Liverpool – Napoli : Preview & Prediction
Liverpool, second in Group A, host leaders Napoli on Tuesday 1 November at 9pm at Anfield Road in the sixth and final round of the Champions League group stage. The two clubs, already qualified for the 1/8th finals, will be looking for a prestigious victory before the knockout phase. The Serie A leaders, who won the first leg 4-1 and are on a long winning streak (13), arrive in England in a strong position and with the firm intention of continuing their unbeaten run of 27 matches in all competitions.
Reds, only 9th in the Premier League, are already 8 points behind the Top 4. The fault lies in two defeats in the last two league games at Nottingham (1-0) and Leeds United (1-2) at home. Liverpool have lost two of their last three matches, but their confidence is low, even though they have won four consecutive matches in the Champions League, including two big wins at Rangers (1-7) and Ajax Amsterdam (0-3). The Italian team from Napoli has been winning for two months now, with a total of 13 wins in their last 13 matches in all competitions. Napoli will be looking for a performance at Anfield Road, having gone 27 games unbeaten.
Liverpool will be without Arthur, Diaz, Diogo Jota, Keita and Matip. Napoli, on the other hand, will be missing only Rrahmani. Egyptian international striker Mohamed Salah is the Reds’ man of the match with two goals and an assist in his last two games. Napoli’s attack is firing on all cylinders with 28 goals scored in the last 8 matches, an average of 3.5 goals per game. Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has just scored a hat-trick against Sassuolo (4-0) this weekend in the last day of Serie A and he has scored in each of his last 4 games with his club against Ajax, Bologna, Rome and Sassuolo. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is Napoli’s nugget this season. He has been decisive in 8 of his last 9 games for club and country (6 goals and 7 assists).
Napoli are unbeaten in their last 25 matches (22 wins and 5 draws).
Napoli have won their last 13 matches, including Serie A and the Champions League.
The Reds have lost 2 of their last 3 games.
Napoli beat Liverpool 4-1 in the first leg on 7 September.
Napoli have the best attack (20 goals) and the best defence (4 goals) in the group.
Napoli have been Liverpool’s bête noire for the last 3 years…In fact, since July 2019, Napoli have 3 wins and 1 draw against the Reds, Champions League and friendlies included. On their last trip to Anfield Road in November 2019, the Italian team brought back a draw (1-1). The Serie A leaders have been untouchable and unstoppable for the past two months, winning every team that comes their way (Lazio, Liverpool, AC Milan, Ajax (2), AS Roma…). Spalletti’s side will be hoping to finish the group stage on a high note. The double chance “Nul ou 2” at 1.98 seems overpriced and is very interesting to play.
Liverpool – Napoli : Betting Tips
OVER 3.5 GOALS Odds: 2.25
