Napoli vs Liverpool Betting Tips (07/09/22) – Can European Quest Kickstart Domestic Campaign Too?

Liverpool’s chances of recapturing the Premier League crown took another hit on Saturday with more dropped points. The goalless draw at Goodison Park was an entertaining affair, but Jurgen Klopp will be left ruing the fact that his players hit the Everton woodwork on three separate occasions through Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Dias, while effervescent substitute Bobby Firmino forced Jordan Pickford to make a catalogue of good saves.

But that’s not to say that the Toffees didn’t have chances of their own, with Tom Davies striking the frame of the goal, while Alisson made excellent saves to deny Dwight McNeil and Neal Maupay.

Klopp had opted for an experimental midfield three of Fabinho, Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho, perhaps fearing that opposite number Frank Lampard would ‘park the bus’ as he had in the sides’ last meeting, but Everton fought fire with fire – resulting in an open, engaging contest that saw a staggering 39 shots at goal to go with the 16 corners.

The Expected Goals count – 2.25-1.53 in Liverpool’s favour – also confirms just how many good goalscoring opportunities were created in this game, although it’s perhaps Klopp who would have been left scratching his head in wonderment at how his troops didn’t claim all three points.

The only consolation is that Manchester City were also held to a draw, and so the five-point gap to the reigning champions – which would have looked like a chasm had they won at Villa Park – remains somewhat manageable, although it gives the Reds little margin for error.

Maybe a shift in focus to continental action will provide the spark that Liverpool seem to be lacking right now. Mind you, Klopp would have preferred an easier Champions League opener than an away trip to Napoli on Wednesday evening.

Liverpool Team News

The revolving door in Liverpool’s midfield will spin around again this week with Carvalho absent after suffering a dead leg against Everton.

After subbing the youngster off at half-time, Klopp tried a rather cosmopolitan 4-2-3-1 formation in the second half against the Toffees, with Firmino floating behind Nunez. It worked, from a chance creation point of view, but left the Reds somewhat exposed defensively – it seems highly doubtful that the manager will attempt something similar in Naples.

Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita are almost certainly out, while Thiago – back in light training – surely won’t be rushed back into first team duty.

Transfer deadline day signing Arthur Melo hasn’t played a competitive game since May, and so Klopp will basically be forced to field a midfield three of Fabinho, Elliott and James Milner.

Expect Andy Robertson to return at left back, while there’s a choice between Joe Gomez and Joel Matip at centre half.

In attack, Klopp may persevere with Nunez leading the line – although Firmino might be the better option given his form and more defensive inclination.

Napoli Form

Luciano Spalletti has got Napoli firing in Serie A, and their goal-laden campaign got even better at the weekend as they passed the first real test of their title credentials at Lazio.

They have lost some key players in Kalidou Koulibaly and Lorenzo Insigne of late, however, and while Victor Osimhen is a major talent in attack the Naples outfit arguably are weaker now than they were last term.

They actually got the better of Liverpool during the 2019/20 edition of the Champions League, but a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.

Napoli vs Liverpool Betting Tips

It’s funny in life how your perception guides you one way, but reality takes you on a very different path altogether.

You would perhaps expect Liverpool to be more circumspect on the road in the Champions League, and we would certainly predict a more pragmatic Reds performance in Naples than what we saw at Goodison Park a few days ago.

But load up a look at Liverpool’s most recent away days in the Champions League and you note that six of the last seven have witnessed three goals or more.

Klopp has even tempted the king of miserly football, Diego Simeone, into a 2-3 slugfest against his Atletico Madrid side, and so while we expect a somewhat cagey affair on Wednesday, the history books suggest we should expect goals nonetheless.

So Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score is our play at 10/11 here, and we’re also interested in Mo Salah to score anytime at 6/4. The Egyptian is underperforming his xG so far this term, which at least confirms he’s still getting into goalscoring positions. Expect him to find the net in Naples.