UEFA Champions League Preview: Arsenal vs SSC Napoli

On Tuesday night, the Gunners face SSC Napoli at the Emirates as the Italian side prepare to come up against English opponents for the fourth successive year in the European competition.

Arsenal are in scintillating form, sitting at the top of the Premier League, thanks to hard work & commitment put in by Arsene Wenger and his team. The Gunners have won 9 in a row in all competitions since starting their season with a 3-1 home defeat by Aston Villa.

Napoli recently beat AC Milan 2-1, their first victory over the Rossoneri at San Siro since Diego Maradona scored in a 2-1 win in April 1986. Miguel Britos was on target for the first time since 13 February 2012 while Pepe Reina became the first keeper to deny Mario Balotelli from the spot, ending his 21 from 21 record.

After Inter Milan’s 0-3 win at the Highbury in 2003, Arsenal remained unbeaten in home matches against non-English opposition for 9 years & were 16 European games undefeated against teams who visited north London until Schalke won 2-0 in last season’s group stage, becoming the first foreign visitors to win at the Arsenal Stadium.

Manager Speaks:

Arsene Wenger, manager, Arsenal: “To beat Borussia Dortmund is certainly something special and that will lift Napoli’s confidence. We know from the Emirates Cup that they are a good side but we know as well that when you want to qualify then home games are vital.”

Rafa Benitez, manager, SSC Napoli: “It is too early to say if we can be contenders. There are many strong teams. You cannot question the quality of the English clubs, but you can see the other teams are improving too. You have to keep moving forward.”

Team News:

• Theo Walcott won’t be available after undergoing an operation on his abdomen last Wednesday. Tomas Rosicky is back in the training & is likely to be one of the substitutes. Abou Diaby, Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are the long term absentees.
• For Napoli, Right-back Christian Maggio will be unable to play at the Emirates after undergoing surgery on his left knee on 25 September.

Match Facts:

• This is Arsenal’s 16th successive UEFA Champions League campaign, longevity bettered only by Manchester United (18) & Real Madrid (17).
• Arsenal have won their last 8 Premier League away games, matching the club record set in 2001/02.
• Aaron Ramsey has scored 8 goals in 9 games for Arsenal this season & 1 in 2 for Wales; he managed 5 in 91 club appearances in the previous two campaigns.
• Gonzalo Higuaín’s next appearance in the UEFA Champions League will be his 50th in the competition (48 with Real Madrid). He has scored 9 goals.
• Goran Pandev scored his first goals of the season as Napoli won 2-0 at Genoa on Saturday.
• Napoli’s 5-match winning start to the season ended last Wednesday when they were held 1-1 by US Sassuolo Calcio.
• Napoli are unbeaten at home in the league in 2013, their last defeat at the Stadio San Paolo coming against Bologna on 12 December. Since then they have won 10 home top-flight matches out of 13.
• There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Napoli’s last 6 games in the UEFA Champions League; including qualifiers.

Match officials:

• Referee: Milorad Maži? (SRB)
• Assistant referee: Milovan Risti?, Dalibor Djurdjevi? (SRB)
• Additional assistant referee: Danilo Gruji?, Miodrag Gogi? (SRB)
• Fourth official: Vladimir ?adjenovi? (SRB)
• UEFA Delegate: Steen Dahrup (DEN)
• UEFA Referee observer: Paul Allaerts (BEL)