Overview
Napoli's trip to the Etihad Stadium will see the return of many familiar faces in Manchester. However, no one will be as honored as Kevin De Bruyne, who is considered by many fans to be the greatest player of The Citizens.
De Bruyne was with City for 10 years before leaving as a free agent to join Napoli this summer. He won 16 titles in the same blue shirt and many individual awards, and has an impressive record with 108 goals and 170 assists after 422 appearances.
The decision to leave the Belgian without offering a contract extension would certainly be a difficult choice for the club's board. De Bruyne also did not initially agree with the view that this was the right time for him to leave.
Although he finally left " peacefully", with an emotional speech to the Etihad fans, De Bruyne will certainly want to prove that Man City were wrong.
De Bruyne will not be the only Napoli player to regain his familiarity in Manchester, but the welcome for him will be completely different from others. Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund also returned to the city after joining Napoli from Manchester United.
McTominay's value has increased significantly in Italy. The Scots international was named Serie A's Man of the Year after helping Napoli win the Scudetto in his first season under coach Antonio Conte.
The same thing happened to Hojlund. After two failed seasons in England, the striker scored just 14 minutes after debuting for Napoli last weekend. Hojlund has reaffirmed the potential he showed when he was at Atalanta.
Napoli have lost both of their last two matches against Man City, but those have come since the 2017-2019 season. History shows that Italian teams often have difficulty in England, having never won in their last 12 away matches.
At the beginning of the new season, Napoli continued their impressive form when leading the Serie A rankings after 3 matches. And Conte is also an opponent that Pep Guardiola certainly does not want to face.
The two coaches have met seven times before, and Conte is dominating with four wins from Guardiola's three. Only Jurgen Klopp and Luis Enrique have faced Guardiola more often but still won more than lost.
Man City entered this match with excitement after the derby victory over Man United last weekend. Erling Haaland's form will play a key role. The Norwegian striker is truly on the rise, as he has often seen in the early months of the season.
Haaland has scored six goals in his international break, including a brace in the Manchester derby. His performance in the first 4 rounds of the Premier League is really impressive. Many opinions say that the current version of Haaland is the best that fans have ever seen.
Haaland's ability to score goals is not limited to domestic leagues. With just one goal against Napoli, he would break the record in the Champions League that has existed for 18 years.
To date, Haaland has scored 49 goals in 48 appearances in Europe's top flight. The record for the fewest matches to reach the 50-goal mark currently belongs to Ruud van Nistelrooy, who achieved this in his 62nd match in 2007.
Head-to-head record
All four previous meetings between Man City and Napoli in Europe have taken place in the Champions League group stage. The Citizens have not won a single game in 2011 2012 (D1 L1), before winning both home and away games in 2017-2018.
Napoli have never won away from home against an English side in any European competition (12 - 3 - 3 - 9). They have also lost at least once to 6 of the 7 other English opponents they have met (Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Leeds United, Liverpool and Man City).
Score prediction: Man City 3-1 Napoli
The match between Man City and Napoli takes place at 2:00 am on August 19 (Vietnam time).
