Napoli vs Liverpool 18/09/19

18 September 2019

Napoli welcome Liverpool to the Stadio San Paolo for the opening match of Group E with revenge on their minds after being dumped out of the UEFA Champions League (CL) last campaign at the expense of the Reds. Just like last year, these two giants will face-off in the group stage, with both sides registering narrow 1-0 home triumphs respectively.

Even though they’ve lost just one game in the group stage last term (W2, D3, L1), the hosts have struggled to advance to the knockout phase, mainly thanks to their disastrous away displays (D2, L1). Still, the Partenopei failed to impress in the CL even when at home lately, picking up just three wins in their last nine CL home outings (W3, D3, L3). Although Gli Azzuri boast a decent home record against the Premier League clubs (W5, D1, L2), they’ve lost five of their last six H2Hs with English clubs, home and away. What’s more, they’ve failed to find the net in three of their previous four clashes with the English sides, with all of those matches featuring under 2.5 goals.

On the other hand, the Reds head to the Stadio San Paolo, where they’ve failed to secure a win in their previous two competitive visits (D1, L1), as the defending champions. After barely qualifying for the knockout stage last term (W3, L3), the visitors have stepped up their game after the group phase (W5, D1, L1). Notably though, all four of Liverpool’s CL defeats last season have come away from home, with the Merseyside outfit failing to hit the net on three occasions in that sequence. Additionally, Liverpool came up short in their last two visits to Italy, but they’ve still pulled off three triumphs in the last nine trips to the ‘Appennines.’