Though Napoli's intense encounter with Inter Milan ended all square last weekend, the spirit they showed to fight back and secure a point against Italy's reigning champions will have brightened the dark mood of Antonio Conte.

The ex-Inter boss has seen his current team stumble off top spot since a bleak winter transfer window, and they went behind on home turf when Federico Dimarco fired in an excellent first-half free kick.

Having dominated most of the second half, the hosts eventually broke through with stoppage time looming, as substitute Philip Billing poked the ball in at his second attempt, following an inspired sprint forward by Stanislav Lobotka.

However, for the first time ever a Conte-coached team have gone five consecutive matches without recording a league win, as Napoli's last Serie A success came back in January against Juventus.

As well as losing in Como at the end of last month, the Campanian club also have drawn their last two games at the Maradona, where they had previously won nine of 11 top-flight fixtures this season.

After an emphatic 3-0 win in January's reverse match, Napoli would now love to repeat that feat against Fiorentina, helping them do the double over their Tuscan counterparts for the first time in four years.

Napoli and Fiorentina have alternated between a win each across their last six league meetings in Naples, with the Viola winning 3-1 on their most recent visit 18 months ago.

They head south on this occasion amid a worrying slump, as Raffaele Palladino's side have recently slipped to seventh in the Serie A standings, having previously been battling for a potential top-four finish.

Following Thursday's chaotic 3-2 Conference League defeat to Panathinaikos, which puts their progress to the quarter-finals under some threat, the Florence club have lost four of their last five fixtures.

Palladino's position has even been called into question - despite his bright start to life at Stadio Franchi and last week's 1-0 home win over Lecce - so he will be keen to avoid losing three straight away games in Serie A.

Across all competitions, Fiorentina have won only one of their last eight on the road while failing to keep a single clean sheet, so stopping Scudetto-hungry Napoli could prove a tough task.

Napoli possible starting lineup:

Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno; Politano, Gilmour, Lobotka, McTominay, Spinazzola; Raspadori, Lukaku

Fiorentina possible starting lineup:

De Gea; Comuzzo, Mari, Ranieri; Dodo, Adli, Cataldi, Ndour, Gosens; Beltran, Kean