Champions League Preview: Napoli vs Sporting CP – Team News, Line-ups & Prediction

Napoli will be looking to bounce back from Sunday’s slump at San Siro when they take on Sporting CP in the Champions League tonight. Antonio Conte’s charges return to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona wounded after losing at Milan last weekend.

Despite boasting a numerical advantage, Napoli suffered a 2-1 defeat at Milan’s home ground. Kevin De Bruyne’s penalty served as a consolation goal, with the Partenopei surrendering the top spot in Serie A to Massimiliano Allegri’s side.

However, there’s no time to dwell on the past. Indeed, Napoli slipped to a dismal start to their first Champions League season in two years. Manchester City beat the reigning Scudetto holders 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium, derailing their chances of securing a coveted top-eight finish.

With that in mind, victory against Sporting is imperative. Unlike Napoli, Rui Borges’ team enjoyed a flying start to the league phase, dismantling Kairat Almaty 4-1 in Lisbon on matchday one. Yet, this fixture ought to present the Primeira Liga champions with an entirely different challenge.

Nonetheless, Sporting will take the field in high spirits after eking out a narrow 1-0 league win over Estoril at the weekend. That triumph made it seven wins in eight matches for the Lions across all competitions this season, with the exception of a 2-1 home loss to Porto in late August.

Match Preview

Napoli

Despite losing twice in their last three competitive outings, Napoli can take comfort in the knowledge that both those slip-ups arrived away from Naples. On the other hand, Stadio Diego Maradona has been a fortress of late. Conte’s charges have not lost any of their last 13 home games in all competitions (W10, D3).

Against this backdrop, the Italian giants have stuttered at Europe’s top table. Indeed, they have claimed just one win from their last five home matches in the Champions League (D3, L1). That said, Napoli have found the back of the net in 21 consecutive home fixtures in this competition, including qualifying (W12, D6, L3).

Further confidence stems from Napoli’s superb all-time record against Portuguese opposition. Despite drawing both previous meetings with Sporting, they have only lost two of their 14 encounters against Primeira Liga clubs. Furthermore, eight of those matches ended in victory (W8, D4, L2).

Sporting CP

Sporting advanced from the newly formatted league phase last season and will be keen to replicate that feat this term. The aforementioned rout of Kairat got them off to a perfect start, but there’s no room for complacency. For context, that win halted Sporting’s underwhelming six-game winless run in Europe (D2, L4).

Moreover, Borges’ side netted only four goals during that barren sequence, highlighting their immense scoring difficulties on the continental stage. However, the Lions have excelled defensively, putting together back-to-back wins to nil for the first time this season.

Curiously, it’s been ‘all or nothing’ for Sporting lately. None of their last 11 games have ended level (W9, L2), with both defeats coming against bitter domestic rivals Benfica and Porto. Meanwhile, they’ve been ruthless on the road this season, winning all four away outings via an aggregate score of 9-2.

Team News

Napoli couldn’t call upon several defensive stalwarts against Milan. Alessandro Buongiorno, Leonardo Spinazzola, Mathias Olivera, and Amir Rrahmani were on the sidelines injured. Three of them will remain on the stands tonight, joined by Luca Marianucci, who’s not on the club’s Champions League squad list.

Moreover, Romelu Lukaku has yet to recover from a thigh injury, while Giovanni Di Lorenzo must serve a one-game ban after picking up a red card against Man City.

As for Sporting, Daniel Braganca, Nuno Santos, and Ousmane Diomande are not in contention for the squad.

Napoli vs Sporting CP Potential Starting Line-ups

Napoli (4-1-4-1): Meret; Spinazzola, Beukema, Jesus, Gutierrez; Lobotka; Politano, Anguissa, De Bruyne, McTominay; Hojlund.

Sporting CP (4-2-3-1): Silva; Fresneda, Inacio, Debast, Araujo; Hjulmand, Kochorashvili; Quenda, Trincao, Goncalves; Suarez.

Napoli vs Sporting CP Prediction

Though Napoli head into proceedings as betting favorites, Sporting are no idle threat. Borges’ men are capable of causing upsets, and it’s hard to count them out before the kick-off. However, Conte has become famous for his ability to drag his sides out of crisis, and this is an opportunity to live up to that tag.

Therefore, we expect Napoli to take three points in what promises to be an evenly-contested showdown.