NAPOLI will be aiming to make it five wins from five in Champions League Group A when they welcome Rangers to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday night.
Luciano Spalletti's side kick-started their Champions League campaign in spectacular fashion, as the Azzurri made light work of Liverpool in a 4-1 romp to a victory.
The free-scoring Italians have since kept up their 100% record in the group phase and secured progress to the knockout stages by recording a 3-0 win over Rangers in the reverse fixture before dishing out a pair of pastings to Dutch superpower Ajax.
Closer to home, Napoli solidified their position at the top of the Serie A table with a 1-0 win at Roma on Sunday, another victory that has left the Naples faithful daring to dream about a first Scudetto since the days of Diego Maradona.
As for Rangers, their first season back in the Champions League group stages for 12 years has not exactly gone to plan so far, having suffered four straight defeats, the most recent of which was a 7-1 humbling at home to Liverpool.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's team haven't fared much better on the domestic front in recent weeks, as the Light Blues could only scramble a 1-1 draw at home to Livingston on Saturday, a setback which has left them four points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership table.
Outright Betting
Napoli, who have yet to taste defeat this season, head into their final Group A home game as short-priced 1/4 favourites with Bet 365.
As already mentioned, Rangers have lost their opening four group games and the bookies’ unsurprisingly expect that trend to continue, with a Teddy Bears triumph trading at a towering 12/1 (PaddyPower) while the stalemate is an unfancied 11/2 (Bet 365).
Betting Angles
You won't get rich backing Napoli at the above-mentioned odds but backing the hosts to overcome a -1.75 start on the Asian Handicap looks a nice alternative angle of attack 49/50 (Bet 365).
Taking this selection would deliver a half win if Napoli win by two or more goals whereas a home success by three clear goals would deliver a full pay out at shade under even-money.
While Napoli have already stamped their ticket to the knockout round with two games to spare, they still have the added incentive of finishing top of the section to increase their chances securing a more favourable last 16 draw.
Luciano Spalletti's swashbucklers have quickly become one of Europe's most lauded teams, having won each of their last 11 games in all competitions, a sample that includes victories against the likes of Liverpool, Ajax, Lazio, Milan and Lazio.
That doesn't bode well for a confidence-stricken Rangers side that have shipped an eye-watering 15 goals across their opening four Group A assignments, with each of those defeats coming by a margin of two-goals or more.
With this in mind, coupled with the fact that the hosts have overcome this hurdle in each of their four group phase games so far, backing Napoli with a –1.75 start stands out at 49/50 (Bet 365).
Given that Rangers have been leaking goals at an alarming rate in this season's Champions League, I'll also back Napoli to score over two goals at even-money (1/1) with Bet 365.
Napoli have notched up 3+ strikes in each of their four pool fixtures so far and they look a fair bet to repeat the trick against a Rangers team that is going through a time of turmoil right now.
This UEFA Champions League match between Napoli and Rangers will be played on Oct 26, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Napoli vs Rangers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
