Manchester City vs. Napoli, Champions League: Team News, Preview, Predictions

If you watched Liverpool and Manchester United on Saturday and screamed to yourself “I AM NEVER WATCHING FOOTBALL AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!”, worry not: there is a game coming up that will make you fall in love with the game again. I promise.

Manchester City and Napoli clash on Tuesday night at the Etihad in what could very well be a Champions League classic. These two teams are undoubtedly the best in Europe in this early season, and the best thing about it is that both love to play the same way: keep the ball a lot, pass the ball a lot, shoot the ball a lot, score lots of goals. It’s a quite simple yet beautiful approach, and that’s why their encounter this Tuesday is so exciting for every football fans.

This game also features two of the most brilliant minds in the game: Pep Guardiola and Maurizio Sarri see the game in very similar ways, and the Sky Blue color of their shirts is not the only thing in common between these two teams: both City and Napoli are convinced that their coaches’ way of playing is the best, and they do it to perfection.

There is a small chance that Sarri decides to rest his biggest stars in order to prioritize the Italian league. Napoli are real contenders in the Serie A title race for the first time in a long time, and with a huge game against Inter Milan at the weekend, they might not see the clash with City as a truly big match. That possibility is really small, though, and Sarri will probably send Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne and all the other great Napoli players to win at the Etihad.

This could really be one of the best matches in recent Champions League history. Seriously. Like, seriously.

MATCH INFO, TV/STREAMING

Date/Time: Tuesday, October 17, 2017, 7:45pm (UK & Nigeria), 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (USA), 12:15am IST (India, Wednesday)

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England

Television: BT Sport 3 (UK), Fox Sports, ESPN Deportes (USA), SONY TEN 3 (India), TSN1 (Canada)

Online streaming: BT Sport Live Streaming (UK), Fox Sports GO, WatchESPN (USA), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)

(Listings via LiveSoccerTV)

TEAM NEWS

Vincent Kompany misses out once again with a hamstring injury, but the Kaptain should be in the final stages of his recovery and could return this month. Apart from Vinnie and Benjamin Mendy, the entire squad is fully fit and available for selection. It’s hard to imagine Pep making any big changes to his team, so it’s fair to expect a very similar lineup to the one that destroyed Stoke City, if not the same.

The only possible alteration is Sergio Agüero returning from his rib injury in place of either Raheem Sterling or Leroy Sané, but the two young wingers are in such great form that they don’t deserve to be dropped. And Gabriel Jesus is simply untouchable right now. Yes, it’s hard for Sergio Agüero to find a place in this team. Insane, right?

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Manchester City (4-3-3)

Ederson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Delph; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva; Sterling, Jesus, Sané

Napoli (4-3-3)

Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejón, Mertens, Insigne

PREDICTION

If the Napoli stars are all playing, this will be an AMAZING game, with the home team getting the win: 4-2 City.