Napoli right back Giovanni Di Lorenzo is carrying the weight of a club in distress. With two goalkeepers — Alex Meret and Alisson Santos — confirmed injured following a Champions League defeat against Arsenal, Massimiliano Allegri's squad faces a crisis that extends well beyond the back four. Di Lorenzo, 33, remains one of the few constants in a team that sits 12th in Serie A with three points from three matches.
The significance of that standing is not merely statistical. Napoli have won once, lost twice, and conceded as many goals as they have scored across those opening fixtures. For a club with European ambitions, the margin for further error is already thin. Di Lorenzo's role in steadying whatever defensive structure Allegri can assemble has never been more consequential.
His numbers from the opening three Serie A matches reflect a player doing the unglamorous work: one assist, no goals, and an average rating of 6.68. That figure is functional rather than commanding, which tracks with a team that has not yet found its shape. An AI overall of 76 out of 100 suggests the ceiling is there; the question is whether the squad around him can rise to meet it.
The goalkeeper situation complicates everything. Manna confirmed before the Arsenal match that Noa Lang was absent for disciplinary reasons, a detail that speaks to the broader tension within the group. Now, with both senior goalkeepers sidelined, the defensive unit Di Lorenzo anchors on the right will be asked to compensate for uncertainty behind them.
Allegri noted before the Arsenal fixture that it is rare to see an English side defend the way Arsenal do — an observation that doubles as a backhanded acknowledgment of how exposed Napoli looked going forward. Di Lorenzo, a captain by temperament as much as by armband, has already spoken candidly about his side defending too deep in that defeat. The self-awareness is admirable. The correction is urgent.
Three matches in, Di Lorenzo is the thread Napoli cannot afford to lose.