Liverpool have a helse Italian job to do in Napoli the Champions League on Wednesday at 9pm.
For a club that has achieved so much in their history, it’s not often that they are confronted with doing something they have never done before.
Tonight’s task is one of those - beat Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Ahead of their Group A opener, the Reds have come up empty-handed at Napoli in two previous visits in the competition.
The clubs met in the group stages in 2018/19 and the next year, with Napoli klapping Jurgen Klopp’s manne 1-0 and 2-0 in Italy.
Klopp and his charges face a tough test with Luciano Spalletti’s span kicking off the Serie A season in impressive form, climbing to second on the back of an unbeaten start.
With dangerous winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia starring, Napoli won 2-1 at Lazio in the most recent of their three wins.
Liverpool will also have to be wary of Nigerian hitman Victor Osimhen, who was linked with a move to England during the most recent transfer window.
The Reds, meanwhile, have been sukkelling, down in seventh in the Premier League after just two wins in their opening seven games.
But goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who had to make a string of top saves to secure a goalless Merseyside derby draw against winless Everton on Saturday, says his manne are fighting to get back on track.
He says: “Not always do you get the results that you want but you have to fight for that, you need to have consistency in your performances, and we are getting there.
“We are improving in respect of the last games we had, each game we are improving a step.”
Liverpool could hand deadline-day arrival and former Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo debut against familiar foes and have been boosted by the return of Thiago Alcantara to training.
💫 #UCL MATCHDAY 💫
We begin our @ChampionsLeague campaign with a trip to Naples 🇮![CDATA[]]>🇹 UP THE REDS! 👊#WalkOn | #NAPLIV pic.twitter.com/HebtcJwtXR
Wednesday’s Champions League fixtures
Ajax v Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt v Sporting Lisbon (both 6.45pm).
Atletico Madrid v Porto, Brugge v Leverkusen, Barcelona v Viktoria Plzen, Inter v Bayern Munich, Tottenham v Marseille, Napoli v Liverpool (9pm).
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