To start the Europa League campaign Leicester City will face Italian giants Napoli on Thursday. While the Foxes are coming off a defeat to English champions Manchester City, their Neapolitan opponents beat old rivals Juventus with a late goal to keep their perfect Serie A record. Here is everything you need to know about Leicester City vs Napoli football prediction, team news, and lineup for the Champions League match of the season.
Team news
Leicester City
Ayoze Perez will be available for selection on Thursday in spite of serving a three-game domestic ban.
Leicester are still without Wesley Fofana, James Justin, and Nampalys Mendy but Jonny Evans is set to make his first start of the season after recovering from injury.
In the Premier League so far Patson Daka has only played 26 minutes, but he will almost certainly start on Thursday.
Napoli
Napoli is likely to be without seven players when they travel to Leicester on Thursday.
Lorenzo Insigne and Mario Rui have been added to Napoli’s injury list, and both are expected to miss midweek.
In Insigne’s absence, Hirving Lozano could get some much-needed minutes, but someone will have to play out of position to cover Rui at left-back.
In the weekend’s 2-1 win over Juventus, Piotr Zielinski returned. If the away team requires fresh legs, Juan Jesus and Kevin Malcuit are options in defense.
Leicester City vs Napoli Prediction
On Saturday, Leicester was defeated 1-0 at home by Manchester City. Napoli will be buoyed by their weekend comeback victory over Serie A rivals Juventus.
This season Napoli has won their first three league games and will be hoping to take something on Thursday
As both teams prefer to go forward and are capable of slicing open even the tightest defenses an open game is expected.
Though Leicester has struggled in the final third recently, the bright lights of a European night – and perhaps a change in attacking personnel – can help them secure a point against their toughest Group C opponents.
Lineup
Leicester City possible starting lineup: Schmeichel; Castagne, Vestergaard, Soyuncu, Bertrand; Albrighton, Tielemans, Ndidi, Barnes; Daka, Vardy
Napoli possible starting lineup: Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Rui; Anguissa, Elmas, Ruiz; Politano, Osimhen, Lozano
Our Prediction: Leicester City 2-2 Napoli
