Stadio Diego Armando Maradona forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering Champions League Group A curtain-raising showdown between Napoli and Liverpool. Familiar foes will share the stage for the third time in five seasons, having last met in the 2019/20 group phase.
Back to the Champions League following a two-year hiatus, Napoli are second-favorites to advance to the knock-outs behind Liverpool. With Ajax and Rangers complementing a highly-competitive Group A, flying out of the traps could prove crucial to the Italians’ bid to find a way out of the group stages for only the second time in four appearances.
However, last season’s Champions League beaten finalists make a journey to southern Italy with a point to prove. It’s been an underwhelming start to the new Premier League season for pre-season title candidates Liverpool. They have only won two of their opening six league matches (D3, L1), putting the pressure on Jurgen Klopp to deliver in Europe.
Match Preview
Napoli
Despite losing long-serving stalwarts Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne over the summer, Napoli have gone from strength to strength in the new Serie A campaign. Led by brand-new Naples city hero Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Luciano Spalletti’s men have racked up a five-match unbeaten league start (W3, D2).
The Georgian winger has tallied four goals and one assist in five Serie A appearances to become a fan favorite in Naples. He will lead the line alongside Victor Osimhen as the Partenopei look to maintain their 100% win ratio in home Champions League fixtures against Liverpool (W2). It’s worth noting that both previous H2H wins in Italy came ‘to nil.’
Napoli tend to perform well in the Champions League group stages, as evidenced by their impressive run of one defeat from their last 12 such match-ups (W5, D6). On top of that, they have registered five triumphs in six previous Champions League home meetings with Premier League visitors, except for a 4-2 loss to Manchester City in November 2017.
Liverpool
Liverpool will take the field with their confidence depleted following a disheartening scoreless draw with Everton in Saturday’s Merseyside derby. Another sub-par performance at Goodison Park has taken the Reds’ wait for a competitive win outside Anfield to four matches (D2, L2), including a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League final.
On the bright side, Klopp’s side won all six Champions League group stage games last season and could become the first English team to do it twice in a row. Furthermore, Liverpool came out victorious in all six away matches in the 2021/22 edition, while they are enjoying a three-game winning away streak against Italian hosts in European football.
Delivering action from the get-go, Liverpool have only lost their curtain-raising Champions League fixture once in their last 12 appearances at the tournament (W8, D3). Ominously, though, that defeat came at the hands of Napoli in a 2-0 reverse back in 2019/20. Mohamed Salah will look to turn his side’s fortunes around after netting seven goals in last season’s Champions League.
Team News
Diego Demme is not available for selection in the Napoli camp, while Spalletti hopes to have Hirving Lozano back in time after sustaining a facial injury earlier in the season.
As for Liverpool, Jordan Henderson has joined Alex Oxlade-Chamberlian, Naby Keita, and Ibrahima Konate on the sidelines, with Thiago Alcantara’s fitness still in doubt.
Napoli vs Liverpool Potential Line-ups
Napoli (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Kim Min-jae, Amir Rrahmani, Mario Rui; Piotr Zielinski, Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka; Matteo Politano, Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Harvey Elliott, Fabinho, Arthur Melo; Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz.