We have reached the penultimate round of fixtures in 2022/23 Champions League Group A. On the 26th of October we have a meeting between Napoli and Rangers at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and the hosts begin the game top of the group on 12 points while the visitors are bottom without a point to their name.
Napoli come into the match full of confidence following a hard fought 1-0 win at Roma in Serie A on Sunday night. With the game drifting towards a 0-0 draw, Victor Osimhen scored a fantastic goal in the 80th minute to take maximum points.
🏳️ #NapoliRangers sarà diretta dall’arbitro turco Meler#UCLhttps://t.co/mQCrtV2u0D— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) October 24, 2022
🏳️ #NapoliRangers sarà diretta dall’arbitro turco Meler#UCLhttps://t.co/mQCrtV2u0D
That result means Napoli have won each of their last 11 fixtures in all competitions. There have been wins over Liverpool, Rangers, and Ajax in the Champions League within those 11 straight victories for Napoli.
They have defeated Liverpool and Ajax at home plus Rangers and Ajax away in the Champions League this season. Trends show Napoli have won each of their last 4 Champions League games by 2 or more goals.
Home form in the Champions League shows Napoli are tough to beat and they are undefeated in their last 10 Champions League fixtures in-front of their own fans.
Napoli have won 7 of those 10 matches including 3 of their last 4 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Rangers make the trip to Naples on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw at home with Livingston in the Scottish Premiership on the weekend.
Livingston opened the scoring after only 4 minutes and Rangers needed a last minute equaliser to draw with the opposition down to ten men. That result means Rangers are undefeated in 4 of their last 5 matches in all competitions.
However, their recent Champions League record is poor and Rangers have lost all 4 games in Group A. They have been defeated by Napoli and Liverpool at home plus Ajax and Liverpool away.
In fact, in their last 6 games in the Champions League, Rangers have a poor record of just 1 win. They have also been defeated by 2 or more goals in their last 4 matches in the Champions League.
Away form in the Champions League shows Rangers have lost 4 of their last 5 games on the road and have won only 1 of their last 15.
Team news and Napoli will be without the injured duo of Andre Zambo Anguissa and Amir Rrahmani. The hosts may choose to rest some players who started on the weekend.
Rangers have several players unavailable for this game, with Glen Kamara, Ryan Jack, Connor Goldson, John Souttar, Tom Lawrence, Filip Helander, and Nnamdi Ofoborh all on the treatment table.
This should be a comfortable win for Napoli and could seal their place at the top of the group. We expect them to win by at least 2 goals and keep a clean sheet against a struggling Rangers team.