Napoli have issues in midfield for their Champions League opener against Arsenal on Wednesday, with both Scott McTominay and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa unavailable.
McTominay underwent a surgical procedure to treat an irregular heartbeat on Tuesday, while Anguissa has a physical issue.
But Napoli coach Massimiliano Allegri insisted he will stick with his favored 4-3-3 formation.
“There will not be a change of system, absolutely not. I’ve only got four midfielders, so three of them will start tomorrow,” he said during his news conference on Tuesday.
Allegri added that he would pick three from the quartet of Kevin De Bruyne, Billy Gilmour, Stanislav Lobotka and Antonio Vergara.
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As the defending Serie A champions last season, Napoli were eliminated in the league phase after finishing 30th of the 36 teams in the Champions League.
Allegri replaced Antonio Conte after last season but has endured a tricky start to the Serie A campaign.
Victory on the opening day against Genoa has been undermined by successive defeats at the hands of Como and Inter Milan, leaving new boss Allegri looking for a reset when his side welcome Arsenal to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
“Tomorrow is a different competition from Serie A, a sort of mini-league where we need 12 points to secure qualification for the next round,” Allegri said.
“Europe gives you motivation and adrenaline. We’ll be playing against the best, and we need to play a game of great technique. When we don’t have the ball, we’ll need to defend better as a team. We left a lot to be desired against Como and Inter.”
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side finished runners-up to Paris Saint-Germain in last year’s tournament.
“We know we’re up against a team that has just won the Premier League and reached the final of this competition. Arteta has done well to get his defense organized and they concede very few goals,” Allegri said.
“I had the fortune of [coaching] in two finals but I lost both of them,” he added, referring to when he was at Juventus and the 2015 and 2017 finals, which were won by Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively.
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
