English Premier League side Chelsea will take on Italian giants Napoli on Tuesday in the first-leg tie of the UEFA Champions League ‘Round of 16’ match to be hosted by Napoli.
Hosts Napoli, who haven’t lost at home in European competitions for the last 16 years, will look forward to continue their good form in Italy. They will certainly want to visit London next week with a positive result in the first-leg.
Looking at the squads, Napoli are certainly the better team than Andre Villas Boas’ side, given the presence of their ‘Big Three’ – Edinson Cavani, Marek Hamsik and Ezequiel Lavezzi. Uruguyuan striker Cavani has already scored four goals in his first Champions League season and will definitely like to add more against Chelsea.
On the other hand, Chelsea look like a weakened team with their forward Fernando Torres managing just two goals in nine appearances while playing in Europe this season. The Londoners are struggling to qualify for next season’s Champions League and will visit Napoli after a frustrating draw against Birmingham City in an FA Cup match last Saturday.
Gary Cahill is likely to start for Chelsea and Frank Lampard is also available after his recovery from a calf injury.
Napoli will be the favourites to win the match, unless of course Villas Boas’ displays some of his mastermind techniques against the Italian team.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have sent out a warning to Napoli regarding possible racist abuse of the London players in the first leg match at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples, Italy. And Chelsea have said that they will complain to the UEFA if any such cases are observed.
Probable Line-ups: Napoli: De Sanctis, Aronica, Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Maggio, Inler, Gargano, Dossena, Hamsik, Lavezzi, Cavani
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Bosingwa, Essien, Meireles, Ramires/Lampard, Mata, Sturridge, Torres