Napoli-Villarreal is a friendly and will be played on Saturday at 20:30: news, statistics, live TV, likely line-ups, predictions
Many are wondering if Napoli will resume the same pre-stay pace and the Azzurri began to give the first answers in the first two friendlies played in Turkey, where they beat first Antalyaspor 3-2 and then Crystal Palace 3-1.
Luciano Spalletti’s team therefore picked up exactly where they left off. Since September, Napoli have almost only won, with the exception of the Anfield Road match against Liverpool in the Champions League: in that case, however, it was a painless defeat, because it came after qualification had already been acquired. The only draws came in August. Fiorentina and Lecce were the only two teams, together with the Reds, that managed to escape unscathed from the confrontation with what, in the first part of the season, was one of the best teams not only in Italy but also in Europe. Napoli, however, await a complicated restart: on 4 January there is immediately the big match at San Siro with Inter and after just two days the partenopei will host Juventus at the ‘Maradona’.
Meanwhile, at Fuorigrotta, the Azzurri are rehearsing by facing Villarreal. An undisputed reality of Spanish football that two years ago won the Europa League and last season reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. The Submarino Amarillo got off to a slow start this year and after the first fourteen days of La Liga is only ninth in the standings. For a month now, Unai Emery, who migrated to Aston Villa – who paid the €6 million clause – has not sat on the bench, and in his place is Quique Setien.
In the last friendly match, Villarreal beat their former coach thanks to a goal from Capoue and obtained their second win in a row after the pyrotechnic 4-3 with Galatasaray.
Chukwueze
The Prediction
It’s shaping up to be an entertaining friendly at the ‘Maradona’, in which at least three goals in total should be scored, a constant in the last few matches played by Napoli. The Azzurri are slight favourites for victory
Napoli v Villarreal matchday squad
- NAPOLI (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Ostigard, Juan Jesus, Mario Rui; Ndombelé, Lobotka, Elmas; Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.
- VILLARREAL (4-3-3): Reina; Kiko Femenía, Mandi, Cuenca, Mojica; Trigueros, Parejo, Coquelin; Chukwueze, Gerard, Danjuma.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1