Porto vs Napoli - Betting Preview
Porto finally managed to get a victory last weekend, defeating Arouca 4:1 at home at Dragao in the last round of Portuguese league. It was their first victory after four matches in all competitions, as they lost the ground in the title race and only remain to be seen if the team will end up second or third at the table.
Currently, they are at the third position, two points behind second placed Sporting and nine points away from leaders from Benfica, eight rounds till the end of the season and it’s hard to expected them getting back into the title race. Coach Luis Castro is their new team technician, as it remains to be seen if he can manage the team at such a serious level. As for the Europa League, he stated that the team looks like one of early favorites to win the Europa League. However, they have showed many weak sides in the match up against Eintracht Frankfurt in previous round, having to pull out late goal to qualify for this game. There is obvious lack of quality in comparison to previous years and there is no doubt that the team is weaker, yet still a good European side. Right back Alex Sandro (2/0) is back into the team, while coach Luis Castro won’t be missing any important player.
Napoli, on the other side, is coming from one of the worst performances at home this season, but still managed to defeat Roma with a narrow 1:0 score last weekend. They got the victory with a goal from Callejon in 81st minute and now have stepped in even stronger in the battle for the second position having now only three points less, but with a game more.
During all ninety minutes, Napoli had only one more serious chance, while coach Rafa Benitez didn’t want to criticize his players, saying that there were other times when the team played well, but their opponents were winning. In previous Europa League round, Italian side excluded Swansea after a goalless draw away and a 3:1 victory in the second leg. Currently, they are considered as second favorite to win the European title after Juventus and will surely be looking to get a positive result today, at least same as in the first leg against Swansea. After a victory over Roma, players of Napoli have improved their atmosphere, while the visitors won’t count at goalkeeper Rafael (8/0) who is out till the rest of the season and back Zuniga. Injured is newly signed defensive midfielder Jorginho.
There have been over 2.5 goals scored in nine of Porto’s last ten games in Europa League.
Porto have conceded at least two goals in their last four matches in UEFA Europa League.
Porto had many problems against Frankfurt and it won’t become any easier for them tonight either. Team is simply less quality than in previous years and will hardly manage to get fully satisfying result tonight against stronger and more in-form Italian side.
Pick: Napoli AH+0.5 @ 1.73
