Champions League: Liverpool VS Napoli: Prediction, probable lineups, head-to-head, and key stats

Following last week's 3-0 victory over Ajax in Amsterdam, Jurgen Klopp's out-of-sorts side qualified for the round of 16 with a match to spare.

Napoli leads Liverpool by three points and has a goal difference advantage of seven, so Liverpool would need a monumental victory to turn the tide. For the record, the Serie A team has not lost a single match this season.

Liverpool is tenth in the Premier League rankings and has mostly underachieved thus far this season. The Merseyside club suffered a stunning home loss to Leeds United over the weekend and cannot afford another catastrophe in this match.

Napoli, on the other hand, is currently atop the Serie A standings and has been in great form this season.

Also, Napoli's incredible 13-match winning streak, which eclipsed the best team of the Diego Maradona era with a 4-0 thrashing Sassuolo Calcio, makes it nearly impossible for Liverpool to seize the spotlight on matchday six.

It will be an uphill battle for Liverpool this week at Anfield to avenge a humiliating loss to Napoli earlier in the season.

As for head-to-head stats, both the clubs have met only seven times, where Liverpool has been victorious in two while Napoli has come out on top in three and the remaining two resulted in a draw.

Liverpool is mindful that a second-place finish in the group could result in a difficult matchup in the knockout rounds. And this is their best chance to defeat Napoli and win their group. It will be intriguing to watch if or not their guys can grind out a victory here.

Key stats for the match

• Liverpool has scored two or more goals in 15 of their last 18 UEFA Champions League encounters.
• Napoli has scored at least three goals in their last five Champions League encounters.
• Liverpool has lost their last two UEFA Champions League matches against Italian opponents and has surrendered five goals in these two matchups.
• In eleven European road matches against English opponents, Napoli has never triumphed.

Liverpool's predicted line-up

Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Joel Matip, and Arthur are all out, and neither Naby Keita nor Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was not included in the Champions League squad, will be available.

Ibrahima Konate might make his first competitive appearance after coming off the bench for the last two games. By summer, signing Calvin Ramsay could make his senior debut after regaining health with the Under-21s.

Predicted lineup: Alisson, Salah, Firmino, Carvalho, Milner, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Elliott, Henderson, and Jones.

Napoli's predicted line-up

Meanwhile, Napoli is missing Salvatore Sirigu and Amir Rahmani.

Similarly, Victor Osimhen, who scored a hat-trick in the weekend's 4-0 victory over Sassuolo, may not be risked due to his injury issues this season, with Giovanni Simeone perhaps starting up front after scoring twice against Rangers last week.

Predicted lineup: Meret, Lozano, Simeone, Raspadori, Di Lorenzo, Ostigard, Kim, Rui, Ndombele, Lobotka, and Elmas. 

Liverpool VS Napoli prediction

Napoli has the momentum and the ability to cause defensive problems for Liverpool. Keeping this in mind, they should be able to secure another victory.

Final prediction: Napoli 2-0 Liverpool