Arsenal begin another Champions League campaign on Wednesday night with a difficult trip to Napoli, looking to take the first step towards going one better after the heartbreak of last season’s final.
The Gunners suffered a painful penalty shootout defeat in the showpiece last season, but they have responded superbly at the beginning of 2026/27. Mikel Arteta’s side beat Manchester City in the Community Shield before taking maximum points from their opening three Premier League matches.
Napoli’s start has been far less convincing. They opened their Serie A campaign with a 2-0 victory away to Genoa but have since suffered defeats against Como and Inter Milan, leaving them 12th in the table.
Napoli v Arsenal kick-off and how to watch
The match kicks off at 8pm BST on Wednesday, September 9 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
UK viewers can watch the game live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage beginning at 7pm, while TalkSPORT 2 will provide radio commentary.
Napoli team news
Napoli have several injury concerns heading into the game, as per The Standard.
Scott McTominay is unavailable after undergoing corrective surgery for a minor heart issue, while defenders Alessandro Buongiorno and Davide Marianucci remain sidelined with knee injuries.
Giovane is recovering from groin surgery, with Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and David Neres both facing late fitness tests after missing training.
Benoit Badiashile could make his full debut following his loan move from Chelsea.
One particularly familiar threat for Arsenal could be Kevin De Bruyne. The former Manchester City midfielder has appeared from the bench in Napoli’s opening three league games and could make his first start of the season.
Rasmus Hojlund, meanwhile, is expected to lead the line and arrives with an impressive Champions League record of eight goals in 13 appearances.
Arsenal team news
Cristhian Mosquera missed Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea with a minor muscle problem and looks unlikely to feature, meaning Ezri Konsa could continue alongside Gabriel in central defence.
Jurrien Timber has yet to play this season following minor summer surgery, although he has returned to first-team training and could make the squad.
William Saliba remains several weeks away from returning from his back injury.
Bruno Guimaraes was an unused substitute against Chelsea following a couple of fitness concerns, but the Brazilian should be in contention to start in Naples.
Arsenal’s attacking quartet of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Christos Tzolis and Kai Havertz are expected to start together for the fourth consecutive game.
Can Arsenal make the perfect start?
European visitors rarely enjoy an easy night at the Maradona, with Napoli beaten only three times in their last 23 Champions League home fixtures. English clubs have accounted for two of those losses.
Arsenal, however, arrive with confidence and momentum after winning all eight league-phase matches last season, including an impressive 3-1 victory against Inter on their previous trip to Italy.
The atmosphere in Naples will be hostile, but this Arsenal side have already shown they can handle major European nights away from home.
Prediction: Napoli 1-3 Arsenal
Can Arsenal open their Champions League campaign with a statement victory in Naples, or would you take a point from this one? Let us know in the comments.
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Expecting an Arsenal win, going for 2-0 hopefully which should help us to a flying start…
Timber has made the travelling squad, but I doubt that he will start or even feature other than being on the bench.
Off we go again. It took us 4 goes to finally get over the winning line in the premier League.
Now in the Champions League in the last 3 season’s we’ve reached the Quarter Finals, then the Semi Finals, the we reached the Final. This is our 4th attempt, is anyone seeing my pattern.
We couldn’t, could we?. 🤞👍
Ah Derek, I am following, and hoping it continues the way you describe!
Only thing is CL is a bit of lottery at times.
Hoping to see some changes tonight.
-Gyokeres for Havertz
-Bruno for Rice
-Zubi for MLS
-Hincapie for Calafiori (although doubt this will happen, Ricci will push to play as it is in Italy)
-Eze for Tzolis
-Noni for Saka
This doesn’t necessarily weaken the side much (Noni is the only one that weakens considerably regarding goals/assists, but can hold an end).
We need to remember we play again on Saturday (could be a tricky encounter with Sunderland away) then Carabao on Tuesday, so games coming thick and fast.
I agree with some of those changes but I think we should keep Saka and Rice in the starting line-up
But I’m fine with Gyokeres, Zubimendi, Eze and Hincapie
👍Kia, I must say that your statement after the list of sub suggestions hit me almost like a ton of bricks because I essentially agree with it. That is, how long has it been before recent times, if ever, have we been able to exchange such starters and been able to make such a statement with a straight face? We live in privileged times, lol! 🥳
Exactly BB, we could even throw young Dowman into the starting 11 in place of Noni and I am pretty sure no one will be complaining!
Rotate yes but the amount of changes you’ve suggested is in my opinion suicidal.
I don’t see any worry at all GB, I obviously don’t expect Arteta to make all those changes, but our depth is so strong that I don’t think that weakens our team much at all.
In fact, with the competition at the moment, any players that get a chance to start will be playing their socks off, that’s for sure!
If Arteta doesn’t make many changes, I expect a lot of subs at around 60 mins at the least.
We got this
COYG!
Past few seasons we came close but failed because we had it easy until the semis or final, then ran into stronger teams lacking resilience. This season tough tests start now. If we fight through them and keep winning, we’ll be battle-hardened by the time we reach the final. That’s how we finally get over the line.
I’m going all George Graham on this one.
1 – 0 to The Arsenal
Chris S,
You couldn’t give me the lottery numbers for the weekend could you?. 😂😉