Manchester City welcome Napoli to the Etihad Stadium on Thursday, as their UEFA Champions League campaign begins with a visit from former legend Kevin de Bruyne and Co.
MORE — UEFA Champions League latest table
Pep Guardiola’s new-look City got a huge win against Manchester United on Sunday to boost their confidence after a shaky start to the new season. With Erling Haaland banging in goals, Phil Foden back fit and flying, new signing Gianluigi Donnarumma looking superb in goal and a few key defenders returning from injury, all of a sudden things are looking pretty good for City. But this clash against Napoli will be a huge test of their defensive solidity.
Antonio Conte’s Napoli have had a great start to the Serie A season with three wins from three and summer signing Kevin de Bruyne has settled in extremely well. With former Manchester United duo Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund also having great starts to the season, there are plenty of familiar faces in this Napoli side. Conte will fancy the chances of his side not only pushing City all the way in this game but making a deep run in the Champions League.
For live updates and highlights throughout Manchester City vs Napoli, check out PST’s live blog coverage below.
How to watch Manchester City vs Napoli live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 3pm ET Thursday (September 18)
Venue: Etihad Stadium — Manchester, England
TV Channel/Streaming:Paramount+
Manchester City team news, focus
John Stones could return from injury for this game but plenty of others are missing with Mateo Kovacic, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Kalvin Phillips all out. City’s back four looked pretty settled in Sunday’s win against United and it will likely stay the same for this game. In midfield the trio of Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders worked really well, while Jeremy Doku and Foden were superb in feeding Haaland early and often. Plus the x-factor for City is the arrival of Italian international goalkeeper Donnarumma who made some superb saves against United and has brought calmness to City’s defense with his huge presence.
Napoli team news, focus
All eyes will be on De Bruyne on his return to Manchester so soon after leaving. KDB made it clear that he wasn’t exactly planning on leaving City, but he left as a free agent after a glittering 10 seasons at City. He has found what looks like the perfect landing spot at Napoli too. With Romelu Lukaku still out for a few more months, at least, Napoli made a move to sign Hojlund on loan and so far it appears to be a great signing for both them and the Danish striker as he’s already scoring and looking more confident. McTominay’s rise as a Napoli hero continues as he’s started this season where he left off last and he will relish being back in Manchester. Napoli’s defense is also pretty mean and Conte looks set to build on their Serie A title success last season with more trophies.
Manchester City vs Napoli prediction
This feels like it has a draw written all over it as De Bruyne will play a big part in scoring or assisting for Napoli. This will be a lot of fun. Manchester City 2-2 Napoli.