The Reds travel to Naples looking for a second win in as many European games, having overcome French powerhouses Paris Saint-Germain last time out
Liverpool have the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of Group C on Wednesday as they take on Napoli in the Champions League at Stadio San Paolo.
The Reds were 3-2 winners at home to Paris Saint-Germain in their opening European tie thanks to an injury-time strike from Roberto Firmino, with Daniel Sturridge and James Milner also on the scoresheet.
Napoli, however, were held to a 0-0 draw away at Red Star, leaving them with ground to make up going into the second round of fixtures.
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The Serie A side have a 100 per cent home record so far this season but face a difficult task against Jurgen Klopp’s side, who are unbeaten across their eight games on the road this term.
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on BT Sport 1 and streamed on BT Sport Live.
Squads & Team News
Vlad Chiriches and Amin Younes will both miss the game, though Marco Rui is available to play on Wednesday despite being sent off against Juventus at the weekend.
Dries Mertens is on the bench despite being directly involved in nine of Napoli’s last 14 Champions League goals at the Stadio San Paolo, scoring six whilst assisting three, and will be hoping to add to that against Liverpool.
Confirmed Napoli XI: Ospina, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Albiol, Mario Rui, Allan, Hamsik, Fabian, Callejon, Milik, Insigne.
Bench: Karnezis, Hysaj, Diawara, Rog, Zielinsk, Mertens, Verdi.
Mohamed Salah keeps his place in the starting XI despite struggling to make an impact this season and being replaced during Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea last time out.
Sturridge may be called upon, though his manager still has his reservations about whether or not the forward can last the full game.
“It must always be the target of a player to play with the highest intensity over 95 minutes,” Klopp said of Sturridge following his 72 minutes against PSG. “I don’t know (if he can do it) because we haven’t tried it yet. He 100% understands the need to do that.”
Meanwhile, Naby Keita is back in midfield, replacing Jordan Henderson.
Confirmed Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Milner, Keita, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Bench: Mignolet, Fabinho, Lovren, Henderson, Sturridge, Moreno, Shaqiri
Betting & Match Odds
Liverpool are priced at 23/20 to win, according to bet 365, while a draw is available at 13/5. A win for Napoli is priced at 5/2.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Match Preview
Liverpool and Napoli met in Dublin ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, with the Premier League side claiming a 5-0 friendly win. Little will be taken from that meeting, however, with both sides now searching for domestic and European success.
In the last competitive meeting between these two sides in November 2010, Liverpool won 3-1 at Anfield courtesy of a Steven Gerrard hat-trick, while the only previous meeting in Naples finished goalless in October 2010.
Reds winger Xherdan Shaqiri, who played at Stadio San Paolo when he represented Inter Milan during a brief period in 2015, knows how daunting the atmosphere can be at the gladiator-style arena and has warned his team-mates against complacency
“It’s always special to play in Naples,” he told the Evening Standard. “With Inter that time it was a big derby – they hate each other.
“Before the game, on the bus, it was hard and they have crazy fans. They are a good team, they’ve played together (for) many years.
“We played them in pre-season and won 5-0, but this game will be totally different to go there and take three points.
“They are used to playing together many years now, it’s similar to Tottenham. It will be a hard game. It’s always difficult to win a game away in Naples.
“We played them in pre-season and won 5-0, but this game will be totally different to go there and take three points.”