- Napoli vs. Arsenal LIVE: Champions League updates as Arteta's side begin European campaign
Last year's beaten finalists Arsenal begin their UEFA Champions League season with a trip to southern Italy to face Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, as they look to once again breeze through the league phases as they did last season.
Arsenal finished their league phase campaign last season with a perfect record, winning all eight games, scoring 23 and conceding only four in the process. Mikel Arteta's men have also begun the defence of their Premier League title in perfect fashion with three wins in three to begin the season -- beating Coventry City, Aston Villa and Chelsea.
Napoli, on the other hand, haven't had such an auspicious start to this season, albeit they've had a tough start in the Serie A. They began with a 2-0 win over Genoa, but since then, have lost 2-1 to Como and 3-2 to Inter Milan.
Here's everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch:
The match will be available to watch on TNT Sports 2 in the U.K., CBS/Paramount+ in the U.S., SonyLiv in India, and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates here.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
UK BST: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 8 p.m.
U.S. ET: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 3 p.m.
India IST: Thursday, Sept. 10, 12:30 a.m.
Australia AEST: Thursday, Sept. 10, 5 a.m.
Venue: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
VAR: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Sweden)
Injury and Team News
Napoli
Alessandro Buongiorno, D: meniscus, OUT
Luca Marianucci, D: ligament, OUT
Scott McTominay, M: heart problems, OUT
Giovane Nascimento, F: hernia, OUT
Arsenal
William Saliba, D: back, OUT
Jurriën Timber, D: ankle, OUT
Cristhian Mosquera, D: knock, DOUBT
Expected Lineups
Napoli
Alex Meret
Giovanni Di Lorenzo | Amir Rrahmani | Rafa MarÃn | Leonardo Spinazzola
Frank Anguissa | Stanislav Lobotka | Antonio Vergara
Matteo Politano | Rasmus Hojlund | Alisson Santos
Arsenal
David Raya
Ben White | Ezri Konsa | Gabriel Magalhães | Riccardo Calafiori
Martin Odegaard | Bruno Guimarães | Declan Rice
Bukayo Saka | Viktor Gyökeres | Christos Tzolis
Talking Points
Arsenal look good for another deep Champions League run
Arsenal might not have gotten out of the summer transfer window filling every hole in their squad that they'd have wanted to, but that notwithstanding, they still do look one of the best teams in the continent. They were that last season, and not much has changed now. In fact, the additions of the likes of Ezro Konsa and Bruno Guimarães only make them stronger in those areas of the pitch.
They've not really looked troubled in the Premier League this season, apart from a brief moment at the start of their win against Chelsea, and they will fancy themselves against a Napoli side who don't look in the best of rhythms at the start of this season.
Allegri under early pressure at Napoli
For any new manager at any club, two losses in the first three games isn't ideal. Yes, Napoli have had tough games, but that doesn't mean that Allegri isn't under pressure already, just three games into his stint in Naples.
There have been positives, no doubt, not least being 2-0 up at the San Siro against Inter Milan in their last game. However, the manner of their capitulation at the end under relentless Inter pressure will be a huge concern. Allegri is a coach who prides himself on being able to organise a defensive unit. That went for a toss, as Inter scored twice in the last ten minutes to take all three points from that game.
