Napoli must win tonight to jump inside the all-important top 24 as Antonio Conte aims to ruin his former club Chelsea's bid for a top eight finish in the Champions League.
Conte and his Napoli side have struggled through injury in the defence of their Serie A title and find themselves nine points adrift of league leaders Inter after losing 3-0 to Juventus at the weekend.
Chelsea are 5th in the Premier League and given a 50/50 chance of finishing in the top eight tonight according to latest ods. Liam Rosenior has had a productive start to his tenure at the Bridge — a 3-1 win against Crystal Palace means they have won four and lost one since his appointment.
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We've also put together a complete guide to the league phase finale, rounding up the likeliest qualifiers according to the betting odds and what all the big clubs need to avoid an early European exit.
Napoli vs. Chelsea: Who Will Win?
We're backing a fourth win in a row for Liam Rosenior's Chelsea in all competitions, albeit it won't be easy against Conte's side.
Napoli have lacked much fluency throughout the Conte reign but were efficient at both ends of the pitch last season on a domestic level. Now, as ever with a Conte side, they are struggling to deal with the intensity of domestic and European commitments.
Chelsea will likely have a bit more space to play in Naples. That should help the often slow and overly deliberate Rosenior style speed up a bit as Napoli try to knock down the door but without enough quality in the final third at the moment.
Score Prediction: Napoli 1-2 Chelsea (8/1 with Paddy Power)
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Head-to-Head Record: Napoli vs. Chelsea
- Napoli and Chelsea have only ever played against each other in one European tie in the past, which came in the round of 16 of the 2011/12 Champions League.
- It was a famous clash with Napoli winning the first-leg 3-1 in Naples before Chelsea dramatically came back to pinch a second-leg victory after extra-time at Stamford Bridge.
- That was the season in which Chelsea then went on to also produce heroic and almost bizarre defeats of both Barcelona and Bayern Munich to win their first ever European cup.
Napoli vs. Chelsea: Form Guide
Napoli – Last 5 matches (All competitions)
- Juventus 3-0 Napoli (Serie A)
- Copenhagen 1-1 Napoli (UEFA Champions League)
- Napoli 1-0 Sassuolo (Serie A)
- Napoli 0-0 Parma (Serie A)
- Internazionale 2-2 Napoli (Serie A)
Chelsea – Last 5 matches (All competitions)
- Crystal Palace 1-3 Chelsea (Premier League)
- Chelsea 1-0 Pafos (UEFA Champions League)
- Chelsea 2-0 Brentford (Premier League)
- Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal (EFL Cup)
- Charlton Athletic 1-5 Chelsea (Premier League)
Napoli vs. Chelsea Betting Tips
This is a game that should suit FPL hot topic Enzo Fernandez. The Argentine has finally been pushed further forward this season, where he thrived for Benfica a couple of years ago, and he is having more of an impact in an advanced midfield role as Cole Palmer battles injury problems.
With Chelsea likely able to simply soak up whatever disjointed pressure Napoli amount before springing forward, Fernandez will be key to both starting and perhaps even finishing counter-attacks.
We're backing the midfielder to score or assist (8/5 with Virgin Bet).
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Napoli vs. Chelsea Team News, Injury List
Napoli Team News
- The pragmatic Conte has switched from 4-3-3 to a back three this season due to their injury issues, most notably with Kevin De Bruyne having been missing for a while.
- His fellow midfielders Billy Gilmour and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa are also sidelined, really hampering the hosts’ options in the middle of the park.
- They also gave a fresh injury issue in goal as Vanja Milinkovic-Savic is now unavailable, while Alex Meret has returned to full fitness for the Partenopei.
Chelsea Team News
- Cole Palmer was missing against Palace once again at the weekend with the England international having to be assessed due to a thigh injury.
- The Blues are also expected to remain without former Villarreal goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen, with former Bolton Wanderers loanee Teddy Sharman-Lowe making the bench at the weekend as Robert Sanchez’ closest competitor.
- Their other confirmed absentees include defensive duo Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo, as well as midfielders Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia.
Napoli vs. Chelsea Lineups: Predicted Starting XI’s
This is how we think the two teams will lineup at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona tonight, with Enzo Fernandez deployed between Estevao and Pedro Neto in support of Joao Pedro.
Napoli predicted lineup to play Chelsea
Meret (GK) – Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Juan – Spinazzola, Lobotka, McTominay, Gutierrez; Vergara, Hojlund, Elmas
- Out: Milinkovic-Savic, Rrahmani, Gilmour, Mazzocchi, Anguissa, De Bruyne, Politano, Neres
- Doubtful: N/A
- Suspension: N/A
Chelsea predicted lineup to play Napoli
Sanchez (GK) – Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella – James, Caicedo – Estevao, Fernandez, Neto – Pedro
- Out: Colwill, Adarabioyo, Essugo, Lavia
- Doubtful: Jorgensen, Palmer
- Suspension: Mudryk
Napoli vs. Chelsea Odds: Who is the favourite to win?
- Napoli to win: 21/10 with AK Bets
- Chelsea to win: 7/5 with AK Bets
- Draw: 5/2 with Bet365
Bet Builder Tips: Napoli vs. Chelsea
Our bet builder for Napoli vs. Chelsea backs the visitors to win with both teams to score, Enzo Fernandez to score or assist and Scott McTominay to be carded, which came to overall best odds of 22/1 with Bet365 at the time of writing.
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Napoli vs. Chelsea TV Channel, Live Stream
- Date: Wednesday, January 28
- Venue: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, Italy
- Time: 20:00 GMT
- TV/Stream: TNT Sports / discovery+