Gianfranco Zola has outlined the ‘weapons’ Napoli have at their disposal as they prepare to welcome Liverpool to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Jurgen Klopp ’s side travel to Naples for the first game of their Champions League campaign on Wednesday evening and will hope for a far better start than their domestic campaign so far. A frantic 0-0 draw at Everton on Saturday left the Reds with just two wins from six games and six points off the top of the table.
Conversely, Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli have enjoyed a fantastic start to the Serie A season - unbeaten from their opening five fixtures and second behind Atalanta. And ex-Chelsea legend Zola has backed another of his former sides to take full advantage of a weary Reds outfit.
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“Spalletti’s Napoli have a great opportunity to beat Klopp’s Liverpool if they play with the right weapons,” Zola told Italian daily Il Mattino . “The pace, in a match against Liverpool is completely different from that of the league, very high, organisation and aggression to obtain a prestigious result.
“I am confident. Napoli have good technical values. We hope there is (Victor) Osimhen – his absences due to injury weighed on last season. And then there is that boy, the Georgian Kvaratskhelia. Napoli can enhance this group.”
The Liverpool defence will be aware of 21-year-old starlet Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who already has four goals and an assist in five league games. The Georgian international has lit up the early weeks of Napoli’s season and is likely to make his first appearance in the flagship European competition on Wednesday evening.
The Italian side have won their last two Champions League home games against Klopp’s side without conceding, in 2018 and 2019.
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