Manchester City vs Napoli Prediction: Entertainment expected at the Etihad

Manchester City get their Uefa Champions League campaign underway on Thursday (20:00 BST, TNT Sports 2) as Napoli make the trip to the Etihad Stadium. The Citizens head into this game off the back of beating rivals Manchester United 3-0, so they should be full of confidence.

Defending Serie A champions Napoli have won their opening three league fixtures coming into this contest. Read on for my Manchester City vs Napoli predictions, supported by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Manchester City are having to cope without the services of Omar Marmoush (knee), Rayan Cherki (thigh), Rayan Ait-Nouri (ankle) and Mateo Kovacic (Achilles), while John Stones is recuperating from a minor muscle issue, so there is a chance he could be declared fit to be named in the squad.

The likes of Rico Lewis, Nathan Ake, Nico Gonzalez, Oscar Bobb and Savinho will be pushing for recalls to the starting XI but boss Pep Guardiola may be tempted to stick with the bulk of the side that featured against Man United last time out.

Striker Erling Haaland has the opportunity to become the fastest player to 50 goals in the Champions League, having recorded 49 in 48 games to date.

Football Odds

The hosts will be reunited with a familiar face as club legend Kevin De Bruyne is set for a swift return to M11 having departed City after 10 years at the end of the 2024/25 season.

He is set to receive a warm reception when he plays, which won't be the case for two of his teammates - former Man United duo Rasmus Hojlund and Scott McTominay.

Forward Romelu Lukaku remains sidelined with a serious knee injury and has been left out of Antonio Conte's Champions League squad alongside Luca Marianucci and Pasquale Mazzocchi.

Amir Rrahmani (hamstring), Nikita Contini (broken hand) and Alex Meret (muscle) are all in the medical bay for the visitors.

Manchester City vs Napoli Odds

Man City have won two of the four UCL meetings with Napoli to date and they are 4/6 to come out on top on Thursday.

One of the meetings ended in a stalemate, which did come at the Etihad in the 2011/12 group stage. The draw is priced at 3/1.

Napoli have had a perfect start to their Serie A campaign and they are 9/2 (implied probability of 18.2%) to stun the hosts.

Both teams have found the net in all four Champions League meetings to date and BTTS is available at 8/11 on Thursday.

Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals @ 11/10

I think it is best to steer clear from a result here as City's consistency issues have been going on for almost a year. Napoli have not had such a problem but this is still a tough test for them.

One thing that has been consistent between them in their previous encounters in the Champions League is that they have both found the net on all four occasions. So I think there is value to be had in backing this trend to continue.

However, 8/11 is not an attractive enough price, so by adding over 2.5 goals to the bet we get odds of 11/10. This particular market has struck in three of the four head-to-head meetings thus far and with the quality both teams have in attack, I think we could be thoroughly entertained in east Manchester.

Over 2.5 goals has struck in three of City's four matches so far this term, while Napoli have experienced this just the once. But it did come in their latest outing against Fiorentina.

Scott McTominay anytime goalscorer @ 7/2

An easy narrative to go down on Thursday is for former Citizen De Bruyne to strike against his former side, but it is McTominay, the 2024/25 Serie A MVP and former Man United man, I fancy to get on the scoresheet.

The versatile midfielder has shown over the years his effectiveness in front of goal - showing his skill with both his feet and his head. In 15 appearances against City for the Red Devils in all competitions, the Scotland international recorded one goal.

He provided 12 goals for Napoli in Serie A last term, so he is going to be one of their biggest attacking threats at the Etihad, and given that there is still some defensive fragility among Guardiola's back line, I'm backing McTominay to profit.

Offers

Thursday: We will be Top Price on Man City to beat Napoli with selected bookmakers using Oddschecker for the comparison. (Available from 09:30 Thursday)

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