Genoa vs Napoli - Maurizio Sarri plays down hype around Arkadiusz Milik

Maurizio Sarri insists Napoli's newest striking sensation Arkadiusz Milik must be allowed to "follow his own path" and reject comparisons with Gonzalo Higuain.

The Pole joined the Serie A club from Ajax in the summer, shortly after Higuain moved to Juventus for 90million euros having plundered a record-breaking haul of 36 goals during the 2015-16 season.

In a few short weeks Milik has helped wistful Azzurri fans forget about the prolific Argentinian by notching four goals in as many games to boost Napoli into first place ahead of the trip to Genoa.

But head coach Sarri wants Milik to ignore the hype and forge his own destiny.

He told La Repubblica dello Sport: "It's a comparison which I refuse to make.

"He's a 22-year-old boy, playing in a major league for the first time, and you simply can't compare him with an extraordinary player who has reached a higher level of maturity - one of the best in the world.

"I'm surprised by how good Milik is already but he has to follow his own path. He has great quality and has to be left alone to get on with things.

"I won't let him get any ideas of being on the same level as Higuain."

Napoli visit the Marassi without injured defender Vlad Chiriches and sidelined midfielder Omar El Kaddouri while Genoa are missing the suspended Miguel Veloso, recently signed from Dynamo Kiev.

Genoa held a share of the Serie A lead after winning their first two games, but a 2-0 defeat at Sassuolo on Sunday sent them slipping down the table.

Boss Ivan Juric wants the Grifone to recapture the team harmony shown in their opening matches.

He told his club's official website: "Looking at the Sassuolo game again I can see that we put on a great performance in terms of character, playmaking and possession.

"I thought it was one of our best displays, if not the best. But we were unbalanced and it pained me at full-time to have to tell the players that they had made too many mistakes.

"Napoli are strong and Milik is doing fantastic things. We have done some fantastic things, too, and I'd love to see us do them all over again."