Napoli – Nice: Preview & Prediction
The 2017/2018 season of Napoli starts this Wednesday, August 16. At the San Paolo stadium in Naples, the team will make their first official game of the season against Nice. The game opens duel with a vacancy in the group stage of the Champions League of Europe and begins scheduled for 15:45 (Brasília time).
The recent performance of Napoli
In the previous season, the Neapolitans managed to advance to the last 16 of the most important club tournament on the continent. They fell just before Real Madrid, who would later have the cup.
The elimination caused a minor crisis in the club, with leaders even criticizing the players’ posture and even the choices of coach Maurizio Sarri. However, the coach did not relinquish his convictions. It kept its system of arming the team that is very offensive considered the traditional standards of Italian soccer.
Thus, he completed Series A in third place with 86 points (26 wins, 8 draws and 4 losses). It was just one point behind Roma, runner-up, and added five points less than the champion Juventus. This made them, with a cooler head, to choose to preserve Sarri and allow him to follow his line of work.
In the preseason, the Neapolitans made eight friendly matches. They won five, drew two and lost only one. The bold style has been preserved. In all the duels the team shook the opponents’ net at least once. He even thrashed the tiny Anaunia by 17-0. Despite the irrelevance of the rival, he showed that the aim of his attackers remains in a hurry.
The current form of Nice
Nice makes a completely opposite tactical option. The defensive system is your priority. That was how he managed to surprise in the 2016/2017 season of the French Championship. He came to lead the fight for some time and completed the battle in third place being beaten only by favorite Monaco, champion, and Paris Saint-Germain, runner-up. The team had 78 points (22 wins, 12 draws and four losses). They were 17 fewer than the Monegascos and seven fewer than the Parisians.
The 2017/2018 season did not start, at least locally, as expected. After two rounds of Ligue 1, Nice have yet to score. In the opening, away from home, was beaten by Saint Etienne by 1 to 0. Then, in their domains, took 2 to 1 of the Troyes.
In both duels it did not count on that which is considered its greater attacker. Italian Mario Balotelli, with a knee injury, has been out of the last three matches of the club. Still in treatment, it depends on a new evaluation of the doctors to know if it will be able to act in Naples on Wednesday.
Their last participation was exactly in the match of the round of first leg of the last round of eliminatory phase of the Champions League. He scored Nice’s goal in a 1-1 draw in France against Ajax of the Netherlands, the runner-up of the Europa League last season. However, he did not participate in the return match where, on Dutch soil, the French ensured their survival by starting the tie 2-2.
Balotelli is not the only problem for Swiss coach Lucien Favre. He also depends on a positioning of the club’s doctors against striker Mickael Le Bihan, another reliant on new tests to see if he will be available for Wednesday’s match. Even if it receives the green light, it will probably only be available as an option on the bench with Alessane Plea, the only available offensive option, between the starters. Low right is half Wylan Cyprien who suffered a fracture in March and still needs more time to improve his fitness.
Napoli – Nice: Betting Tips
1/1 ht/ft – Odds: 1.95
Over 2,5 goals – Odds: 1.70
