MY ACCOUNT
After losing in last season’s final, Liverpool start their latest Champions League campaign with a difficult opening clash in Naples.
Jurgen Klopp’s men have made a sloppy start to the Premier League season and their performance level will have to be lifted if they are to begin Group A with a victory.
Napoli, meanwhile, prepare for Wednesday’s encounter unbeaten in their opening five Serie A matches and go into this clash off the back of a 1-2 win at Lazio.
Team news
Napoli could be without two key players for Wednesday’s clash, with Victor Osimhen and Hirving Lozano both doubtful.
Nigerian striker Osimhen has an adductor injury, while Lozano has undergone scans this week after suffering a clash of heads in last weekend’s win in Rome.
Liverpool will be without their captain Jordan Henderson, with the midfielder struggling with a hamstring problem he suffered in the win over Newcastle.
The match-winner that night, Fabio Carvalho, is also expected to sit out the clash in Naples after the former Fulham man suffered a muscle problem in the Merseyside derby.
There is a chance Thiago could feature for the Premier League side, with the Spanish international back in training following a hamstring injury.
The stats
Luciano Spalletti’s men are on a five-game unbeaten home run and the hosts have not lost at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in the Champions League since November 2017.
The head-to-head stats don’t make good reading for Liverpool either, with Napoli unbeaten in their last three meetings with the Reds (two wins and one draw).
A trip to southern Italy also comes at a time when Liverpool have failed to win any of their last three away games (one defeat and two draws).
Young Georgian forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is a player to watch out for, with the 21-year-old scoring four goals in the last five games, including the winner at Lazio last weekend.
The gap left by the exit of Sadio Mane has been highlighted on more than one occasion, and it is worth noting that two of the Reds’ last four goals in Europe last term came from the Senegal ace.
Prediction
The visitors have lost on their last three trips to Napoli, including a 2-0 defeat on their most recent visit in the group stages in September 2019.
Liverpool have looked sluggish and a string of injury problems have not helped the cause in the early stages of the season and Klopp would likely accept a draw if he was offered that prior to the game.
The Reds did win all six of their Champions League away games last season, but will need to step up several gears if they are to continue that impressive run of results on Wednesday night.
With Ajax and Rangers also making up this group, a draw might suit both teams as they look to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament.
