PSV vs Napoli

Following a 2-1 win Go Ahead Eagles on Saturday, PSV Eindhoven welcome Napoli to the Philips Stadium for a Champions League league-phase encounter steeped in intriguing historical context and contrasting form. These two sides last met during the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League group stage, when PSV famously did the double over the Italian side — winning 3–0 at home and 3–1 in Naples — even though they ultimately finished below Napoli in Group F that year. Thirteen years later, both clubs meet again, but this time with greater ambitions in Europe’s elite competition. For PSV [LD], who are in 27th place, following a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on UCL MD 2, the Champions League return has brought mixed fortunes. The Dutch champions have only won one of their last seven games against Italian opposition in this competition (D1 L5). However, that solitary victory came earlier this year when they defeated Juventus 3–1 in the play-off round second leg. Peter Bosz’s side have been vibrant going forward, but defensive inconsistency continues to trouble them—PSV have managed just one clean sheet in their last 18 Champions League matches, conceding 23 goals across their last 10 fixtures at an average of 2.3 per game. That statistic underlines their vulnerability against high-calibre attacks like Napoli’s. A conventional 4—4—2 formation with Ismael Saibari and Guus Til in attack may be seen against Napoli.

Napoli suffered their second domestic defeat at the weekend, where they lost 1-0 to Torino. They head to Philips Stadium with a mixed European form of their own. The Partenopei [LW], who are in 19th place following a 2-1 win over Sporting CP on UCL MD 2, have lost each of their last three Champions League away games, and another defeat here would equal their longest losing streak on the road in the competition—four matches, last recorded between February and December 2017. Ironically, that earlier sequence also ended with a defeat to Dutch opposition, a 2–1 loss at Feyenoord. Historically, though, Napoli’s most emphatic European performance came in the Netherlands, when they thrashed Ajax 6–1 in Amsterdam in October 2022 — still their biggest ever away win in Europe and the only time they’ve scored six or more goals on the road. A 4—1—4—1 formation with Rasmus Højlund, who scored both goals in the win against Sporting, is expected in attack.