Villarreal v Napoli: Champions League preview, predicted line-ups and team news
Both sides lost their Champions League openers and both need points at the Estadio de la Ceramica. Napoli are without five players, including Anguissa and Buongiorno.
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Villarreal v Napoli: both sides need a first point
Villarreal and Napoli both lost their Champions League league-stage openers, and one of them will leave the Estadio de la Ceramica on Tuesday with a second straight defeat.
The hosts went down 3-2 at Borussia Dortmund on 8 September. Napoli lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal the following night. Neither side has a point, and with the league stage only eight games long, there is little room for a slow start.
Villarreal have the better argument. They scored twice away from home and were the more dangerous side in their opener. Napoli did not.
Villarreal
NapoliHow they got here
Villarreal lost in Dortmund despite scoring twice, in the 46th and 61st minutes. All three goals they conceded came between the 76th and 90th minutes. Their recent-form data shows 13 shots per game, six of them on target, and an expected-goals figure of 1.34 for, against 2.83 against. They were lucky to lose only by one.
Napoli were beaten at home by Arsenal. The only goal came between the 61st and 75th minutes. They had 42% of the ball and five shots, three of them on target, and failed to score. That is the thinnest attacking return in the competition so far from a side of their standing.
There is no aggregate to protect. This is a single league-stage fixture, and the points count the same whoever collects them.
Rotation and selection
Rotation is not a major factor here. With both sides pointless after one game, expect each to field its strongest available XI.
Napoli have little choice anyway. Their injury list removes several regular options, so the visitors are more likely to be reshaped by absentees than by choice. Villarreal lose only one player from the supplied list and can keep the 4-2-3-1 they used in Germany.
VillarrealNapoli
- 17 Dec 222–3
- 25 Feb 161–1
- 18 Feb 161–0
- 7 Dec 110–2
- 27 Sept 112–0
Predicted line-ups for Villarreal v Napoli
Villarreal: Luiz Junior; Foyth, Mourino, Logan Costa, Carlos Romero; Comesana, Gueye; Pepe, Moleiro, Ayoze Perez; Mikautadze
Napoli: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Beukema, Rafa Marin, Spinazzola; Lobotka, McTominay, De Bruyne; Politano, Hojlund, David Neres
Where to watch Villarreal v Napoli: TV and online streams
Villarreal v Napoli kicks off at 20:00 BST on Tuesday 13 October at the Estadio de la Ceramica. The match is shown on TNT Sports where selected. The exact channel has not been confirmed and this page will be updated closer to kick-off.
This is a single league-stage fixture, not a two-legged tie. There is no extra time in the league phase. The result after 90 minutes stands.
Stats for Villarreal v Napoli
- Napoli won both Champions League meetings in 2011, 2-0 at home on 27 September and 2-0 at Villarreal on 7 December.
- The sides met in the Europa League last 16 in February 2016: Villarreal won 1-0 at home, then drew 1-1 in Naples.
- The last meeting was a friendly on 17 December 2022 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Villarreal won 3-2.
- Across five meetings there have been two wins each and one draw, at an average of 2.4 goals per game.