Marseille vs Napoli Preview: Where to Watch, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News
Napoli travel to France on Sunday to face Marseille as both sides look to build on a mixed set of pre-season results.
With talk of Wilfried Zaha potentially joining the Serie A giants, those already at the club will be wanting to showcase their skills and solidify a spot in the starting lineup; with both sides in prolific goal-scoring form.
Paolo Bruno/GettyImages
Where to Watch
When Is Kick Off? | Sunday 4 August |
What Time Is Kick Off? | 20:00 (BST) |
Where Is it Played? | Orange Velodrome |
TV Channel/Live Stream? | Canal+ |
Referee? | TBA |
Team News
Adil Rami has been the only player missing from Marseille's recent pre-season friendlies. Boubacar Kamara and Duje Caleta-Car will be expected to start at the heart of Andre Villas-Boas' defence instead.
RAUL ARBOLEDA/GettyImages
For Napoli, Allan, Adam Ounas, David Ospina, and Kalidou Koulibaly were all given extended breaks due to their international involvements over the summer. They are expected to return soon but it'll be unlikely for all four players to start on Sunday.
Predicted Lineups
Marseille | Mandanda; Sarr, Kamara, Caleta-Car, Amavi; Gustavo, Strootman, Lopez; Payet, Thauvin, Germain. |
Napoli | Meret; Ghoulam, Manolas, Masimovic, Hysaj; Insigne, Zielinski, Callejon, Verdi; Mertens, Milik. |
Head to Head Record
The two sides have only met twice before, in Group F of the 2013/14 Champions League. It was Napoli who took all three points on both occasions.
Giuseppe Bellini/GettyImages
Marseille hosted the first match of the two. Jose Callejon and Duvan Zapata put the visitors 2-0 up, with a late goal from Andre Ayew not enough for the hosts; Napoli returning to Italy with the win.
This was followed by a 3-2 home victory at the Stadio San Paolo thanks to two goals from Gonzalo Higuain and one from Gokhan Inler. However, neither result mattered as both sides progressed to the knockout stages.
Recent Form
Les Phoceens have had a mixed pre-season so far. Losses to Accrington Stanley and Rangers meant things looked bleak for the French side just two weeks ago.
However, brilliant performances from Dimitri Payet gave the side some much needed confidence and physiologically valuable wins against French rivals Bordeaux and Saint Etienne.
Ian MacNicol/GettyImages
Carlo Ancelotti's side looked incredibly strong in their 3-0 victory over Liverpool on Wednesday, with Lorenzo Insigne and Arkadiusz Milik looked in particularly impressive form. Gli Azzurri have been scoring for fun so far this pre-season, with Simone Verdi hitting three so far this summer from out wide.
The return of Koulibaly will be a huge boost for the Italians, who will be looking forward to watching him play alongside Kostas Manolas.
Marseille | Napoli |
DC United 1-8 Marseille (25/07) | Liverpool 0-3 Napoli (28/07) |
Saint Etienne 1-2 Marseille (22/07) | Napoli 3-3 Cremonese (24/07) |
Marseille 2-1 Bordeaux (19/07) | Napoli 5-0 FeralpiSalo (19/07) |
Rangers 4-0 Marseille (14/07) | Napoli 1-2 Benevento (13/07) |
Accrington Stanley 2-1 Marseille (11/07) | Bologna 3-2 Napoli (25/05) |
Prediction
Marseille were a long way off achieving Champions League football last season, falling a full 11 points short in Ligue 1. Meanwhile, Napoli looked shaky at the start of their pre-season – but the way they comfortably dispatched the current European champions on Wednesday reminded everyone of their quality.
Francesco Pecoraro/GettyImages
Hopefully this one will see plenty of goals, with Napoli most likely running out as eventual winners.
Prediction: Marseille 1-3 Napoli
