On Thursday night, Napoli host Spartak Moscow at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Group C of the Europa League, as the Italian team look to continue a stellar start to their campaign.
Napoli are currently top of the Serie A table after a strong start to their domestic campaign. A 2-0 win over Cagliari last time out means they are seven games unbeaten in all competitions. The run includes an entertaining 2-2 draw at Premier League Leicester in gameweek one of this competition.
Ezequiel Ponce appreciation tweet. pic.twitter.com/1l2X5p5wUv— FC Spartak Moscow (@fcsm_eng) September 27, 2021
Ezequiel Ponce appreciation tweet. pic.twitter.com/1l2X5p5wUv
The draw was a decent result considering the quality of opposition on gameweek one.
However, Luciano Spalletti’s team will be looking to kick-start their Europa League campaign with a victory in this clash.
In truth, the home side has a poor recent record in the competition, as the Azzurri have won just one of their previous five games in the competition.
Going further back they have also managed just four wins in their previous 12 outings in European football’s secondary competition.
One positive for the team from Naples are at least they are unbeaten in their previous three home matches in the Europa League.
Spartak Moscow have endured a difficult start to their campaign, both in their Russian Premier League campaign and the Europa League.
They currently sit eighth place in their domestic league and are bottom of Group C after suffering a 1-0 home defeat in their opening match against Legia Warsaw.
The defeat against the Polish team was Spartak’s third straight loss in the Europa League, although the two other defeats were back in 2019 against the Portuguese team Sporting Braga.
Unsurprisingly, the team from the Russian capital have struggled on their travels in the Europa League of late, claiming just one win from their previous five away matches in the competition.
Forebet predicts that Napoli will continue their recent good form and record a victory in a low-scoring encounter.