Napoli vs Eintracht Frankfurt prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2023-03-14 20:00.
Napoli responded to just their second loss of the Serie A season by comfortably beating Atalanta last time out, increasing their gap at the summit to an almighty 18 points. A first Scudetto since 1990 now looks a formality, so the Partenopei can turn their attention to reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) for the first time in their history.
A dominant 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg puts Luciano Spallettiās men firmly in the driverās seat ahead of the return fixture, as Napoli have lost just one home game by a three-goal margin since 2013. Spalletti said āwe want to reach the starsā in what could be a historic season, and a dominant home record in the UCL could go some way to achieving that, with no side beating them at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in this competition since 2017 (W8, D3).
Frankfurt make one of the most daunting trips in Europe in the midst of a four-game winless run (D2, L2), with the Eaglesā latest setback coming in a 1-1 draw against relegation-threatened Stuttgart. Coach Oliver Glasner believes his side is ācapable of extraordinary achievementsā and their positive record against Italian sides on the continental stage certainly suggests they could pull another rabbit out of the hat (W5, D2, L3).
The German outfit saw two of their three group stage victories come on the road, but theyāre the lowest scorers still left in the competition (GF: 7), so overturning a two-goal deficit appears unlikely. Frankfurt are also without an away win since November (D4, L2), meaning Glasnerās men have a huge mountain to climb in Naples.
Key battle: After scoring a āMaradona-like goalā against Atalanta, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia now averages a direct goal contribution per game this season (G13, A15). Trying to keep him out will be Frankfurt shot stopper Kevin Trapp, who has seen only two keepers still in the UCL make more than his 22 saves.
Hot stat: Napoliās UCL matches average four goals per game this season – the second-highest among teams remaining in the competition.