This season Napoli have proven a true force to be reckoned with and it is going to take a formidable side to break down Luciano Spalletti’s robust unit.
The men from Naples have already qualified for the last-16 in the UEFA Champions League, but victory over Liverpool on Tuesday would see them join an elite and exclusive club. Coming into the last instalment of the group stage, Napoli are one of only two teams (with Bayern Munich) to have won all five matches until now.
A win away at Liverpool would see Napoli claim a maximum 18 points and become just the ninth club in UCL history to achieve this feat – the first Italian team since AC Milan in the very first Champions League campaign in 1992/93. Napoli would also be the second Italian side to win at Anfield in 2022 after Inter Milan did so in last season’s Round of 16.
Napoli’s record since the last time they lost a game:
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🏟️ 21 games
✅ 19 Wins
🤝 2 draws
⚽ 62 goals scored
🥅 14 goals conceded
The team to beat in Europe. 🧿 pic.twitter.com/JhEz2FIJyS
A draw is enough to ensure Napoli finish top of Group A but the Partenopei are certain to attack the game in their quest for full points at Anfield. Victory for the Reds is already a tall order, but in order to displace Napoli they would need to overturn a three-goal deficit following the 4-1 reverse in Naples.
Napoli have netted 20 goals in the Champions League this term, the most of any team in the competition and four more than next best Bayern. Not only are they potent in the attacking third, Spalletti’s men have conceded just four goals; only Manchester City (1), Bayern (2), and Chelsea (3), have let in fewer.
Although unlikely, five goals for Napoli at Anfield would see Gli Azzurri match the record for most goals scored in the group stage, set by PSG five years ago.
Napoli are also in the driver’s seat in Serie A, currently holding a five-point cushion at the head of the table. They have won 10 of their 12 matches, scoring 30 goals (most in the league) at a frequency of 36 minutes per goal and conceding just 9 times (once every 120 minutes).
The Blues of Naples are the only unbeaten team in the division as well as one of two clubs across Europe’s top four leagues yet to taste defeat, with the other being Real Madrid. Napoli are one of three teams unbeaten both domestically and in Europe, although needless to say they compete in a more competitive league than each of Paris St-Germain and Benfica.
Beyond Liverpool on Tuesday, Napoli next face 2nd-placed Atalanta in Serie A and victory in Bergamo would take the leaders at least 6 points clear. In their last league outing Napoli stormed to a 4-0 victory over Sassuolo at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, in commemoration of the late Argentine’s 62nd birthday.
This latest sculpture, the second of Maradona at Napoli’s ground, sees the little magician in a running stance noticeably with a golden left foot. Maradona scored 115 goals in 257 appearances for Napoli, and the club from Naples last won the Scudetto when he captained the team to two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990. They also won the Coppa Italia together in 1987 and the UEFA Cup (precursor to the Europa League) two years later.
Victor Osimhen is Napoli’s joint-top scorer with eight goals in all competitions, although he has played six games fewer than Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (also eight goals) after the Nigeria striker picked up an injury in his team’s Champions League opener versus Liverpool. Osimhen is now fit and raring to go against the Reds, who suffered a rare home defeat at the hands of Leeds Utd last weekend.
Osimhen’s seven goals is the most of any player in Serie A this campaign. He has scored six goals in four games since returning from injury, including Napoli’s fourth in their 4-2 rout of Ajax last time out to open the 23-year-old’s account in Europe this season.
Napoli’s newest sensation Kvaratskhelia arrived in the summer from Georgian side Dinamo Batumi for a modest transfer fee of €10million. The 21-year-old, dubbed ‘Kvaradona’, has taken Serie A by storm and as it stands he has notched more direct goal involvements than any player in the Italian top flight, with six goals and five assists. In addition, he has created the most big chances (8) in Serie A until now.
In total the young winger has registered 16 goal contributions in as many games for Napoli (eight goals and eight assists). In the Champions League he netted home and away against Ajax.
(Photo by Franco Romano/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Kvaratskhelia and Piotr Zieliński are the only Napoli players, so far, with 10 goal involvements in all competitions; the Polish midfielder has 4 goals and 6 assists. Giovanni Simeone has chipped in with six goals this term, four of them in the Champions League including two last week versus Rangers.
Spalletti has no major injury concerns but his opposite number Jürgen Klopp will be without several key players. Centre-back Joël Matip is sidelined with a calf injury, meanwhile forwards Diogo Jota and Luis Díaz are out of action until after the FIFA World Cup.
Despite Napoli’s dominance and Liverpool’s shaky form of late, Bet365 favour the hosts to come out on top when these teams meet on Merseyside. Liverpool 1.90 to win; Napoli 3.60 to win; 4.00 for a draw.
Victor Osimhen is 7.50 to score the opening goal or 3.10 to score anytime; Mohamed Salah is 5.50 for first goalscorer or 2.40 for anytime goalscorer.
Kick-off is at 21H00 CET.
