The Champions League group stage kicks off this week with 16 matches over Tuesday and Wednesday. We aren’t going to cover them all, instead focusing on four matches that have been viewed as closer than others according to various prognosticators.

At the moment, Manchester City remains the favorite to win the tournament overall, and with a relatively easy group ahead of them, it’s easy to see why they are favored to advance far in the tournament. Therefore, we won’t be covering their matchup against Shakhtar Donetsk this week.

Our next match preview will feature defending champion Liverpool as they head to Naples to face off against Napoli at Stadio San Paolo as they begin their defense of their Champions League title.

We’ll look at how the clubs are faring back home in their home leagues this season, as well as what they did last season. Then we’ll look at the clubs’ respective histories in European competition, and then finish with a brief look at the matchup and who enters the match favored to prevail.

Without further ado, here’s a look at the clubs.

Domestic League Performance

Napoli is one of the top clubs in Italy, finishing second in Serie A last season behind Juventus. They have finished second in four of the past seven seasons, though they were more recently in Serie B than champions. Their last Serie A title was way back during the 1989-90 season.

Three matches into the current Serie A season, Napoli is in 4th place with a 2-0-1 record, the loss coming to Juventus in Turin. They hope that a slate full of matches against non-Juventus squads over the next couple of months will allow them to match their preseason expectations, with bookmakers estimating a third-place finish for the season.

Liverpool had one of their best seasons last year, winning Champions League and finishing second behind Manchester City in the English Premier League, a race that came down to the final weekend of the season. The remain in search of their first Premier League title, having not won a league championship since 1989-90, a couple of seasons before the Premier League broke away from the English Football League.

There can be no complaints with how the Reds have started this season. They have won their first five matches on the season, and remain the only club in the Premier League that has yet to lose this season. However, only won of those wins have come against a “Big Six” club – a 3-1 victory over Arsenal – and a big match looms this upcoming weekend against Chelsea.

European History

Both clubs were automatic qualifiers for the group stage this year based on their league finishes last season and have long histories in European competition.

Napoli has one European title in their history, a win in the 1988-89 UEFA Cup (now Europa League). In addition to their title last season, Liverpool has won five other Champions League titles (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, and 2005) and three UEFA Cup titles: 1973, 1976, and 2001.

Last season, Napoli finished third behind Liverpool in the group stage in Champions League thanks to a loss on Matchday 6. Their European season ended last year against Arsenal in the semifinals of Europa League. Liverpool overcame their second-place finish in the group stage and advanced through to the final, where they defeated Tottenham Hotspur pretty handily.

This Matchup

This is the third time these clubs have been drawn in the same Champions League group; in addition to last season, they were in the same group in the 2010-11 tournament. Liverpool holds the advantage in the matchup, winning two times in four matches and finishing ahead in the group both years.

According to FiveThirtyEight, Liverpool is slightly favored despite being the road club in this match. They win in 43% of simulations, with Napoli coming out on top in 33%. A draw makes up the difference. Liverpool is favored to win the group over Napoli, RB Salzburg and Genk, so a win for the champions would be a great way to start the tournament, while a Napoli win could be the first step in finally finishing better than Liverpool in Champions League group play. I’d give the edge to Liverpool in this one, as their play early this season has been stellar.

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