Napoli has never lost at its “Stadio San Paolo” to Portuguese opposition and that’s something “Partenopei” wants to maintain when on Wednesday evening, 28 September, Portuguese champions Benfica are heading to their second Champions League Group B encounter. “Eagles” from Lisbon fly to Naples after four consecutive domestic victories, but with bitter taste from the late equalizer their own player Talisca has scored to forming final 1-1 draw against Besiktas. Opening match for Italian vice-champions Napoli in the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League season was away from home and Maurizio Sarri’s men can be really pleased by the 2-1 win in Ukraine, where they made full comeback from 0-1 to 2-1 before end of first half-time.
Napoli vs Benfica – Team News and Match Preview
Three points won against Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv set Napoli on top of Group B but it’s too early for some general conclusions. Anyway, “The Little Donkeys” can be really content with their Champions League return and from their current season at all, since Napoli remains unbeaten after seven games in different competitions. Six of them were in Serie A where Napoli can be found on its last season position (2nd) and they’re on a point behind reigning champions Juventus. Actually Napoli had a leading role but their midweek upset seven days ago is the main reason for Juve’s advantage. That goalless draw against hosts Genoa came after four successive wins, but Maurizio Sarri’s side were not affected by it and they have won their Saturday night encounter against Chievo Verona – 2:0. Two first half goals by Manolo Gabbiadini and skipper Marek Hamsik were more than enough and we can say that Napoli saved some energy for the upcoming Champions League clash.
Benfica are in the exactly same form as of their opposition Napoli, as Rui Vitória’s men have four wins and one draw in their last five fixtures. Difference comes by fact they missed to earn all the points from their home match against Besiktas, but they’re once again leaders in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.
Portuguese champions cannot boast with best available record against Italian sides and Benfica have lost in 10 out of 14 matches here. Three of them are victories and one was a draw, but there are some other bad memories which Benfica has from its past visits on various Italian stadiums. Despite all matches against Italian teams, Benfica lost the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League final at Italian turf by Spanish Sevilla – 2-4 on penalties, after a 0-0 draw in more than 120 minutes of football action.
Head-to-head stats: Napoli vs Benfica
This won’t be the first competitive scuffle between both sides as Napoli and Benfica have met in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup (nowadays the UEFA Europa League) play-offs, where Benfica of Quique Sánchez Flores prevailed over Eddy Reja’s Napoli after a 2-3 defeat in Naples, followed by a 2-0 win in Lisbon.
Most recent matchup between these two sides was a friendly match back in August 2013, when Napoli won 2-1 at its “Stadio San Paolo”.
Napoli vs Benfica – Betting Prediction and Possible Lineups
The Neapolitans have three wins and two draws in their home matches against Portuguese sides and another positive result figures into Maurizio Sarri’s game plan, unquestionably. He rested some key players in weekend’s Serie A round where Albanian right-back Elseid Hysaj was on the bench, while Allan, Dries Mertens and Arkadiusz Milik came on the pitch as second half substitutions. Latter was key for Napoli’s success in Ukraine where Polish striker has netted two first-half headers.
Another player who should be among the biggest threats for Portuguese defense, except captain Hamsik and central forward Milik, is Spanish winger José Callejón who’s one of the leading Serie A goal scorers so far, scoring 5 times in 6 games.
Vlad Chiriches is the only player absent through injury for Maurizio Sarri’s side so the Naples born coach can start with cream of Napoli’s selection, with its preferred 4-3-3 formation.
Benfica achieved two Primeira Liga victories last week, starting with Monday’s 3-1 win against Braga, followed by last weekend’s 2-0 win in Chaves. Nevertheless, “Eagles” are still without some important attackers. Good news are that Greek striker Kostas Mitroglou is back to action and he scored 3 from all 5 goals scored by Benfica last week (other two were of Pizzi). Unfortunately, summer signing Rafa Silva picked up an injury in its debut and this places him next to defender Jardel, as well as two more attacking names – Jonas and Mexican striker Raúl Jiménez. That’s the quartet which has been ruled out from Rui Vitória’s squad list for Naples and it significantly reduces the attacking options of Benfica.
Final conclusion and Betting Prediction
Napoli have been determined for favourites and that’s for a reason, not only because of their home advantage. We all know how loud and hot atmosphere at the “Stadio San Paolo” usually is, especially in these type of games, so we expect another portion of that huge confidence boost for “The Little Donkeys”. Napoli are unbeaten at home since January when they lost to Inter Milan for the Coppa Italia, while in period after it they have 11 wins and only 2 draws. Superb home form shown by Maurizio Sarri’s men and to be even more accurate, that loss is the only for Napoli after Rafael Benítez’s resignation at the end of season 2014-2015.
We have two squads that are still unbeaten in season 2016-17, so we should be careful while placing our bets. Benfica’s last defeat remains in the last season’s Champions League quarter-finals, when they lost to Bayern Munich – 0:1 in Germany, while their last domestic defeat remains back in February – 1:2 vs Porto.
Our expectations are that Napoli will find a way to cope with Benfica’s defense in their second Champions League challenge, but our betting prediction has been influenced by the better odds we find in a combo including two of the most popular betting markets – 1X2 betting + Both teams to score: “Napoli to win and Both teams to score“. Benfica can also score but eventually Napoli should earn the three points.
Venue: “Stadio San Paolo”, Naples.
Referee: Felix Brych from Germany.
Possible starting lineups of Napoli and Benfica
SSC Napoli: Pepe Reina – Faouzi Ghoulam, Raúl Albiol, Kalidou Koulibaly, Elseid Hysaj – Allan, Marek Hamsik, Jorginho – Dries Mertens, José Callejón, Arkadiusz Milik. (4-3-3)
SL Benfica: Júlio César – Nélson Semedo, Victor Lindelöf, Lisandro López, Alejandro Grimaldo – Ljubomir Fejsa, André Horta – Pizzi, Gonçalo Guedes, Franco Cervi – Kostas Mitroglou. (4-2-3-1)