Napoli vs Arsenal: Probable lineups and predictions for the match
Wednesday 9 September at 21:00 at the Maradona. Predicted lineups, who is missing, where the game is shown and our read on it.
Napoli vs Arsenal is played on Wednesday 9 September at 21:00 at the Stadio Maradona, on matchday one of the Champions League.
It is the hardest tie the draw could have given Napoli, and it lands at the worst moment: on Saturday they lost 3-2 at San Siro having led 2-0, and they have three points from three league games. Arsenal, by contrast, are on maximum points in the Premier League and beat Chelsea in Sunday's derby.
Where to watch
In Italy this is the game people get wrong, so it is worth saying plainly: Napoli vs Arsenal is not on Sky. It goes out exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, which carries one Champions League game a week, the pick of Wednesday night, eighteen across the season. Coverage starts at 19:30. The other seventeen games of the round are on Sky and NOW. Coverage differs by country, so check your local listing elsewhere.
Who is missing
Napoli are without Scott McTominay and Giovane. The Scot's absence bites: he is the midfielder who gives the side its yards, and without him the middle leans on Lobotka as the deep passer with Anguissa and De Bruyne either side.
Arsenal do without William Saliba, who also missed Sunday. The back line reshapes with Konsa alongside Gabriel.
The predicted lineups
Napoli (4-3-3)
Alex Meret in goal; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Rafa Marín and Mathías Olivera at the back; Anguissa, Lobotka and Kevin De Bruyne in midfield; Matteo Politano, Rasmus Højlund and Noa Lang ahead.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
David Raya in goal; Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Gabriel Magalhães and Riccardo Calafiori behind; Bruno Guimarães and Declan Rice in the middle; Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and Christos Tzolis behind Kai Havertz.
Predicted lineups can change until an hour before kick-off, when the official teamsheets are released.
Our prediction
We say fewer than 4.5 goals. It is the read that survives taking the opponent's name out of it: Napoli in Europe almost always start by covering, and Arsenal have conceded less than anyone in the Premier League, one goal in three games.
On the result we do not commit, and the reason is specific. Napoli without McTominay lose exactly the quality they need against a midfield like Arsenal's: carrying the ball forward. But the Maradona on a European night is a real factor, and opening rounds of this competition produce more locked games than spectacle.
Then we count it
When the Champions League round closes we publish the tally with nothing removed. The record of settled calls is in the results history.
Our analysis stays updated until kick-off on the Champions League page, and the individual calls are in the Player Predictions section.
