Sassuolo, Italy – August 23: Scott McTominay of Napoli celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Serie A match between USA Sassuolo Calcio and SSC Napoli at the Mapei Stadium Città del Tricolore on August 23, 2025 in Sassuolo, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabatini/Getty Images)
Napoli manager Giovanni Manna spoke about the injury status of Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund ahead of the match against Torino. “There’s no point in taking the risk when there are so many games to play.”
The match kicks off at 17:00 UK time (16:00 GMT) at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.
You can follow all the build-up and action from today’s four Serie A matches on our live blog.
The Partenopei already had issues to deal with, without Stanislav Lobotka, Amir Rahmani, Romelu Lukaku and Nikita Contini, with only Matteo Politano and Alessandro Bongiorno on the bench.
Napoli face new injury crisis
However, surprisingly, McTominay and Hoylund were not even mentioned on the bench.
Mana told DAZN Italia: “There are so many matches that there is no point in taking any risks.”
“Voylund has a muscle problem. We have a Champions League game in the Netherlands coming up, so there’s no need to take any risks. McTominay had a cut on his ankle that needed stitches, so it would be pointless to put him through it again in that condition.”
Last season, when Napoli won the Scudetto, there was only one tournament of note, but this season there will also be the Champions League, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana.
With that in mind, the club has worked with Antonio Conte to build a squad with more options that can accommodate different tactical systems. This has proven especially useful during this injury crisis.
“Certainly, as the coach said yesterday, our team building was based on this idea. When you have four midfielders, it’s difficult to leave them out. We have a lot of games to play, so I’m glad we have players who can cover different roles,” added Mana.
“We want to bring consistency to our campaigns and pick up where we left off before our break for international assignments.”
It is easy to forget that due to recent setbacks, Napoli have been without top striker Romelu Lukaku since the pre-season friendly against Olympiakos, and he is not expected to return until at least mid-November or early December.
“It hasn’t been easy for Lukaku lately. He is finishing his rehabilitation process in Belgium. We expect him to return to Italy in a few weeks. He has also had a big family loss to deal with. We are anxiously waiting for him to give us a hug. He will always be Romelu.”
The Belgium international and his younger brother Jourdan are mourning the loss of their father in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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