Antonio Conte has slammed Serie A organisers for having the "bright idea" to schedule Napoli's clash with Fiorentina within three days of their final Champions League match.

Napoli bowed out of Europe's premier club competition on Wednesday, with a 3-2 defeat at home to Chelsea ending their chances of climbing into the play-off places.

The Partenopei – who are in the midst of an injury crisis that has deprived them of Kevin De Bruyne, David Neres, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and several other players – finished 30th in the 36-team league phase.

Things have gone better domestically, though a recent slump has Conte's side nine points adrift of Scudetto frontrunners Inter, in fourth place.

Napoli host Fiorentina on Saturday, and Conte sees no reason why the game could not have been played later, given that neither team are in midweek action next week.

"I think the performance [against Chelsea] should be appreciated; the way we played, with courage, going toe to toe with a team that's built to achieve great things," Conte said.

"We were clearly in big trouble in terms of players' availability. Let's not forget that these same players will be playing again on Saturday. 

"You have to wonder who had the bright idea to schedule us at 18:00 on Saturday against Fiorentina, considering there's a free week anyway. That leaves me a bit puzzled."

Fiorentina, meanwhile, are 18th in the table, having missed the chance to climb out of the relegation zone following last week's 2-1 defeat to Cagliari.

Paolo Vanoli's side were also dumped out of the Coppa Italia by Como on Tuesday, but he is still preoccupied with the fact that they dropped points against a direct rival last Saturday.

"Against our direct rivals, we've earned few points and lost too many. This should make us realise that survival depends on these games," he said.

"Every head-to-head match is worth six points. Even if we play like we did against Cagliari, we have to be much more focused. 

"They scored the second goal against us, and we were down four against one. We need to be better when chasing back."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Napoli – Romelu Lukaku 

Lukaku, who is still working his way back to full fitness, has been involved in six goals against Fiorentina in Serie A (four goals and two assists).

In both of his Serie A meetings with the Viola in 2024-25, Lukaku both scored a goal and provided an assist.

Fiorentina – Roberto Piccoli

Both of Piccoli's Serie A goals this season have come away from home, with one of them arriving in his most recent such match, against Bologna. 

The Fiorentina striker could score in consecutive away Serie A games for the very first time. However, he has only scored one goal in eight top-flight appearances against Napoli, which came in May 2021, whilst playing for Spezia.

MATCH PREDICTION: NAPOLI WIN

Napoli have won their last three Serie A matches against Fiorentina, having only managed one victory in their previous five (D2 L2). 

The last time the Partenopei registered at least four consecutive wins against the Viola in Serie A was between December 1988 and October 1990 (five in a row).

Fiorentina have also kept just one clean sheet in their last 11 Serie A games against Napoli (a 0-0 draw on 28 August 2022), conceding 24 goals in that run, an average of 2.2 per match.

Napoli have wobbled lately, amid their injury woes, only winning one of their last five Serie A matches and losing 3-0 to Juventus last time out in the competition (D3). 

Napoli have not lost back-to-back matches in Serie A since doing so under Walter Mazzarri in December 2023, however, and they are favourites against a Fiorentina team with just one victory in their last 11 away league games (D5 L5).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Napoli – 51.5%

Fiorentina – 22.1%

Draw – 26.4%