Napoli vs Besiktas
UEFA Champions League – Group B
Date: Wednesday, 19th October, 2016,
Kick-Off: 19:45 UK,
Venue: Stadio San Paolo, Naples.
Napoli and Besiktas will face off in the Champions League 2016-17 group stage on Wednesday.
Napoli has taken advantage of the easy hand dealt to it, winning its first two games of the Champions League. The Italian club, which lost top scorer Gonzalo Higuain this past summer, has not needed him at all, getting consistent goal scoring from forward Arkadiusz Milik; the Polish forward has three goals in the tournament to date, including one in the 4-2 win over Benfica that established Napoli as the group superpower.
Besiktas has two points in the group stage, which is good enough for second place. But with one of Dynamo Kiev or Porto guaranteed to pick up points in their respective encounters, the team needs a result against Napoli.
Napoli vs Besiktas – Betting Prediction and Possible Lineups
It’s pretty clear that Arkadiusz Milik’s long-term injury is a serious woe for Napoli’s inspirations and Manolo Gabbiadini cannot justify the expectations on him, after making a move at the “Stadio San Paolo” in January 2015. Gonzalo Higuain’s departure and injury of Milik are leaving Maurizio Sarri with only one typical striker in the squad and that’s exactly Gabbiadini, so we don’t believe Sarri won’t use him here. Unless he don’t start with attacking trio and a false nine – rotating Dries Mertens, Jose Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne on top.
Napoli’s defense also bleeds since Spanish centre-back Raúl Albiol, who sustained injury early in match against Benfica, has already missed both domestic games against Roma and Atalanta and we saw final results in them. Central defender duo between Nikola Maksimovic and Kalidou Koulibaly still looks pretty far from well-working and even confused, so that’s a good reason for guests from Turkey here.
Latest reports are that Albiol can be featured in Napoli’s starting XI if Sarri decides to risk him, but he can also select Romanian defender Vlad Chiriches, who is fully fit. Anyhow, we expect Serb defender Nikola Maksimovic as a starter from the outset.
Experienced personality like Senol Gunes will do his best to squeeze something, using the moment of uncertainty in Naples. Besiktas arrives in South Italy with awful record against Italian clubs but in good form, winning in the last two Süper Lig rounds – 1:0 vs Rizespor and Kayserispor. Both matches were away from Istanbul and this hints for good spirit on the Bosphorus, as Besitkas shares same number of points with Turkish Süper Lig leaders Istanbul Basaksehir and Galatasaray – all are with 17 points.
However, Senol Gunes has its own injury concerns where we find name of a former Napoli player – Gokhan Inler, who remains doubtful, as well as Oguzhan Ozyakup and Veli Kavlak.
Napoli vs Besiktas: Head to Head Statistics
Both reams have never played against each other on any UEFA competitions.
Napoli have played 2 times against a Turkish side, they have won the two games and kept clean sheets in both games.
Besiktas have played 11 times against an Italian side, they have won none of the game, drawn 2 and lost 9.
Besiktas have played 6 games on Italian soil, they have won none, drawn 1 and lost 5.
Napoli vs Besiktas: Prediction
Despite Napoli’s recent losses, they are still favourites in this game. They have more experience in their squad and are well shaped more than their visitors. The home team will fight for a win in this game so as to keep a clean record in the Champions League group stage.
Meanwhile Besiktas have been trailing Italian teams in their past meetings with Italian teams. The visitors have a poor head to head stats against Italian teams, and have never won a game on Italian soil. They need to work out their skin to get something out of this game.
Napoli vs Besiktas: Tips
Napoli to win with -1 Handicap at 2.10 (11/10).
