Cremonese will be without Nigerian strikers Cyriel Dessers and David Okereke due to injuries when they visit table toppers Napoli today at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Okereke who was on the bench in the team’s 2-0 loss to Lecce last week is currently suffering from a muscle injury while Dessers is being treated for an edema disease. Dessers had limited practice time during the week due to the swelling on his foot and will undergo more tests before being passed by the club’s medical team to resume training.
Cremonese manager, Davide Ballardini during his press conference confirmed the injury to both Nigerian players, “We will find a team that is certainly concentrated as it has been since the beginning of the championship. It will be a big exam for us,” Ballardini told the press.
“In attack I will have Ciofani, Afena-Gyan and Tsadjout (Okereke and Dessers are absent), I have no big doubts about who to line up. I don’t think I’m playing one striker, the idea is always to have two. We have to try to feel good with the head and physically.”
Okereke has scored five league goals in 20 appearances this season but none of it has helped Cremonese record a win. Dessers who joined after an impressive performance for Feyenoord last season has only been able to score three league goals in 17 appearances.
Napoli are currently 13 points clear of second placed Inter Milan on the league table and a win against bottom placed Cremonese will see them top Inter who play Sampdoria on Monday by 16 points.
Cremonese are the only club in the Serie A yet to record a win after 21 games and the fixture against in-form and free scoring Napoli may as well condemn them to another loss.