Napoli vs Sporting Lisbon Prediction and Betting Tips

Napoli and Sporting Lisbon return to action in the UEFA Champions League when they square off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday. Both sides kicked off their European quest with contrasting results, with the Portuguese giants thrashing debutants Kairat Almaty on home turf.

In Kevin De Bruyne’s emotional return to the Etihad Stadium, Napoli were denied a dream start to the 2025-26 Champions League campaign as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City in the opening game a fortnight ago.

Antonio Conte’s men bounced back with an unconvincing 3-2 victory over Pisa to make it four wins from four in Serie A on September 22 before crashing down to earth in a 2-1 loss against AC Milan on Sunday.

Napoli will be backing themselves to get up and running in the UCL on Wednesday as they return to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, where they are yet to suffer defeat in 2025, picking up nine wins and three draws in 12 games since the turn of the year.

Over in Portugal, summer signing Luis Javier Suarez continued his red-hot form in front of goal as his first-half strike fired Sporting Lisbon to a 1-0 victory over Estoril Praia at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota on Saturday.

With that result, Rui Borges’ men have won seven of their eight matches across all competitions since kicking off the season with a 1-0 loss against rivals Benfica in the Portuguese Super Cup on July 31.

Sporting now turn their focus to the Champions League, where they cruised to a 4-1 victory over newcomers Kairat Almaty in the opening game courtesy of strikes from Alisson Santos, Geovany Quenda, and a brace from Francisco Trincao.

Napoli vs Sporting Lisbon Head-To-Head and Key Numbers

Napoli and Sporting Lisbon have never met in the past, adding an extra layer of intrigue to Wednesday’s clash as they look to begin their rivalry on a high.
Sporting Lisbon are unbeaten in 25 of their 27 competitive games since mid-February, picking up 20 wins and five draws in that time.
Napoli have failed to win five of their last six Champions League matches since October 2024, suffering defeats against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City while claiming two draws in that time.
Sporting Lisbon are on a run of 15 straight competitive away games without defeat, picking up 11 wins and four draws since the start of February.

Napoli vs Sporting Lisbon Prediction

Napoli and Sporting Lisbon will have several bright talents and world-class stars battle it out on Wednesday and it promises to be a thrilling matchup at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

While Sporting are unbeaten on their travels this year, Conte's men have been near-impenetrable on home turf and we fancy them to edge out a close contest.

Prediction: Napoli 2-1 Sporting Lisbon

Napoli vs Sporting Lisbon Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - Napoli to win

Tip 2: Over 2.5 goals - Yes (There have been at least three goals scored in six of Sporting’s last seven games)

Tip 3: Over 4.5 cards - Yes (There have also been five or more bookings in five of the visitors’ last six outings)

About the author

Joshua is a European and international football writer at Sportskeeda who covers news and match previews. He fell in love with the sport watching Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o win titles at club and international level, and his passion for the sport led him to become a professional football writer. He has an overall professional experience of 5 years.

Joshua supports Chelsea at club level, having witnessed a number of African stars break records with the club. Drogba’s equalizing header and match-winning shootout penalty for Chelsea against Bayern Munich in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final left a last impact on him. His favorite player is Eden Hazard and favorite manager is Jose Mourinho, who gave him the most joyous days as a Blues supporter. He believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is unlucky to be born in Messi’s era and favors the Argentine in the G.O.A.T. debate.

Joshua also follows the Portuguese Primeira Liga and the Nigeria Professional Football League and loves to play football during his free time. Having attained a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Ibadan, he employs his problem-solving skills in crafting articles while doing extensive research to ensure each article is well thought out and crafted.

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