Napoli host Arsenal at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday evening, with both sides beginning their UEFA Champions League League Stage campaign. The 36-team League Stage gets under way for these two sides at 19:00 UTC, and neither club has yet played a match in the competition this season.
Arsenal arrive in Naples in emphatic domestic and continental form. The Gunners have won each of their last five matches, accumulating 15 points from those outings. That run includes victories over Premier League opposition as well as a win against Atlético Madrid, and it places them second in the table heading into Wednesday's fixture.
Napoli, by contrast, come into the match on a run of two consecutive defeats. The Italian side have taken 7 points from their last five matches, a sequence that includes two wins, one draw and two losses. They sit in 22nd place in the League Stage table, described in the standings as a mid-table position among the 36 clubs.
Both clubs are level on points — neither has played in the competition yet — with a points gap of zero between them entering this opening round. Wednesday's match represents the first opportunity for either side to register points in the League Stage.
The Stadio Diego Armando Maradona provides the backdrop, with Napoli taking the home side's advantage. Arsenal, positioned second in the League Stage table, carry the form of a side that has not lost in five matches, while Napoli will be looking to arrest their recent run of back-to-back defeats as the European campaign begins.