Key events<\/p>\n
66 min: A double change for Arsenal<\/a> as Merino and Eze make way for Guimar\u00e3es and Tzolis.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 65 min: De Bruyne, under no pressure, butchers a simple pass meant for Lobotka, in acres on the right flank. The crowd groan as the ball sails into the stand. The veteran midfielder has had a bit of a shocker so far.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 63 min: Rice makes himself a little bit of time and space to the right of the Napoli<\/a> D, then lashes a wild shot high and well wide right.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 62 min: Hojlund strides down the left but can\u2019t get past Gabriel as he reaches the edge of the box. His shot is deflected, and De Bryune chases after the loose ball, but he doesn\u2019t have the legs to get past Hincapie.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 61 min: Vergara also wastes little time in getting involved \u2026 but upon tearing down the left, he ruins it all by yanking a dismal cross straight into the arms of Raya.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 60 min: The newly arrived Favasuli comes sliding in on Merino at 101 miles per hour. He times his tackle perfectly \u2013 just \u2013 and the crowd enjoyed that very much. A nanosecond one way or the other, though, and the Napoli<\/a> sub would have been in a world of bother. He was fully committed, put it that way.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 58 min: Santos left White in the dust there, such a cheeky and skilful run, but looks to have injured himself in the process. He departs, along with Politano, the pair replaced by Favasuli and Vergara.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 56 min: Santos knocks the ball past White down the left and rounds the defender, then tears away. Lovely play. He shuttles the ball infield for De Bruyne, who looks for Hojlund but his radar is wonky. That\u2019s not his first misplaced pass of the evening, and the home crowd aren\u2019t 100 percent happy with him.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 55 min: Rice clumsily clanks into Santos, and pressure that had been building for several minutes is suddenly released. Napoli<\/a> so grateful for the breather.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 53 min: Arsenal<\/a> are pushing Napoli back. The hosts can\u2019t get out. There\u2019s no option for them other than long to Hojlund. The nearly-all-reds well on top.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 52 min: Odegaard, dictating the tempo now from a deep position, loops another pass into the Napoli<\/a> box. Again for White, but this time down the left, and not so elegant as before. Goal kick.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 50 min: Odegaard suddenly springs into action, elegantly wedging a pass down the inside-right channel and into the box for White, who heads across the face of goal. Hincapie should ram home from close range, but somehow manages to leather the ball over the bar. Not for the first time tonight we say: Arsenal<\/a> should be leading.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 49 min: To a chorus of impatient whistling, Arsenal<\/a> stroke the ball around, this way and that, 30 yards from the Napoli goal. There\u2019s no way through the defence.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 47 min: Milinkovi\u0107-Savi\u0107 has got the mother of all hipster\u2019s beards. He looks like he should be behind the counter at a record store, or running a micro-brewery. While he finds his feet at one end of the park, Napoli<\/a> make good down the other, and Gilmour takes a whack from distance. Easy for Raya.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Napoli get the second half started. Milinkovi\u0107-Savi\u0107 has replaced Meret in their goal. \u201cAs Big Ron used to say, \u2018If you look good, you play good\u2019,\u201d begins Alan Baverstock. \u201cWell, Arsenal<\/a> are looking crap in all red with white sleeves once again, as anyone would, so don\u2019t expect too much. So close, yet so far from Bill Shankly\u2019s switch to all red at Liverpool: \u2018The players looked like giants,\u2019 he said, \u2018And we played like giants.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time fag break postbag … which for some reason is tobacco-infused.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, sir, can they boogie without the Great Scott? Presumably Mr McT is in the stand somewhere, a crafty fag on the go, cupped between thumb and index finger and held behind the back, just in case the cameras spot him\u201d \u2013 Justin Kavanagh<\/p>\n \u201cJust checking: Gy\u00f6keres is still there, right? He hasn\u2019t gone for a lie down or some mid-half snus?\u201d \u2013 Adam Walker<\/p>\n \u201cI understand that winning games builds psychological momentum, but I feel that Arteta could use some of these essentially meaningless league phase matches to give his most overworked players the night off. Does Rice need to be on the field? Yeah, if you want to maximise your chances of winning this game. But given how exhausted he looked at the end of last season, it might be good to rest him\u201d \u2013 K\u00e1ri Tulinius<\/p>\n \u201cCan you put that photo of Kai Havertz back up? At least then Arsenal fans will have a useful striker to look at. And it\u2019d be no more immoble than the one on the pitch\u201d \u2013 Charles Anaki [Click here to relive some of that Hot Havertz Action<\/a>]<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time ad break. Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!<\/a><\/p>\n Share<\/a>HALF TIME: Napoli 0-0 Arsenal<\/p>\n It\u2019s been good, but not great.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +2: Saka goes long. There\u2019s a bit of pinball, before Hincapie tries to catch Meret out with a cheeky threaded shot towards the bottom left. There\u2019s no pace on the shot, and it\u2019s easy for the keeper.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min +1: The first of two additional minutes, and Konsa\u2019s sheer determination down the right wins Arsenal<\/a> a corner. Just enough time to take it!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min: Arsenal<\/a> should be leading. Odegaard slides a pass down the inside-right channel to release Saka into the Napoli box. Saka is one on one with Meret, and looks for the top left, but gets it all wrong, the ball sailing miles off target to the left. The offside flag pops up to momentarily save Saka\u2019s blushes \u2026 but replays show he was comfortably onside. That\u2019s a huge opportunity passed up.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 43 min: The free kick, then. A big faff, and a big waste. But Arsenal<\/a> come again, Odegaard curling in from the left. Meret, who looks fit and healthy to the naked and untrained eye, punches clear acrobatically.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 42 min: This game has slipped into Basketball Mode. Saka with a dribble down the right. His cutback for Rice is intercepted. Olivera probes down the left but can\u2019t get past Konsa. Eze scampers up the other end, and is skittled by Gilmour, who goes into the book. A free kick 30 yards out, just to the left of centre.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 40 min: Olivera swats Saka off the ball and sends Santos off on a wild run down the left. Santos nearly gets the better of Konsa \u2026 but the Arsenal<\/a> defender somehow sticks to his side like glue, and eventually does some swatting of his own. Santos goes over, and wants a free kick, but he\u2019s not getting one.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 39 min: Politano\u2019s in-swinging shot from the right flies straight at Raya. Arsenal<\/a> counter, and Saka hoicks a dreadful effort miles over the bar.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 min: \u2026 though having said that, Napoli\u2019s back-up keeper Milinkovi\u0107-Savi\u0107 is furiously prepping in the dugout. Meret puts his boot through a clearance, meanwhile, so perhaps all\u2019s well. Let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 37 min: Meret is fine to continue, and restarts the game. Everyone refreshed.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 36 min: The game doesn\u2019t restart immediately, because Meret has a problem. On come the physio. Everyone else takes the opportunity to snorkel some isotonic treats.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 35 min: Rice buys a ticket from 25 yards. High and wide.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 34 min: Hojlund chases a pass down the inside-right, holds off Gabriel, and lays off to De Bruyne, whose shot balloons off Gabriel and out for a corner \u2026 but Napoli<\/a> don\u2019t get the set piece, because the flag goes up for offside. It was a close one, though, Hojlund pretty much level with Gabriel at the start of the chase. Had Napoli scored from the move, VAR would have had some work to do.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 32 min: Hincapie sends a cross in from a tight spot on the left \u2026 and nearly catches Meret out at his near post. Meret does well to claw the ball out and away. Not entirely sure Hincapie meant that, but if he did, it was a super-cheeky gamble and nearly paid out.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 30 min: Santos crosses from the left and nearly finds De Bruyne in the middle, six yards out, but Konsa is on point to block and clear. Both teams searching furiously for the opener.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 29 min: Eze cuts in from the left and drags a shot wide left. He grimaces and sucks in some air. It was a good chance. Arsenal<\/a> come again, Saka jinking in from the right before shanking a weak effort wide left. Another good chance spurned.<\/p>\n Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze (right) attempts a shot on goal. Photograph: Agostino Gemito\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.46 EDT<\/p>\n 27 min: Saka plays a ball in from the right to tee up Merino on the edge of the Napoli<\/a> D. Merino takes a heavy touch, allowing De Bruyne to nip in, steal the ball, and draw a foul. You\u2019ve seen yellows given for less, but if this referee wasn\u2019t going to book Eze earlier, he\u2019s certainly not going to show one for that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 25 min: Time and space for Politano out on the right. But not that much time and space. He faffs around, and when he eventually decides to attempt a cross, he\u2019s closed down by Hincapie.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 23 min: \u2026 Rice dribbles a weak shot straight at Meret. Napoli<\/a> break quickly again, and Santos takes aim from a tight angle on the left. It\u2019s blocked easily by White.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 22 min: Saka cuts in from the right and crosses long. Eze heads back across the face of goal for Merino, who rams a header goalwards from six yards. But it\u2019s straight at Meret, who tips over. Great save, but the keeper shouldn\u2019t have been given the chance to make one. You\u2019d expect Merino to bury that. And from the corner \u2026<\/p>\n Napoli’s keeper Alex Meret (centre) makes a save from Arsenal’s Mikel Merino. Photograph: Gregorio Borgia\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.47 EDT<\/p>\n 20 min: A long ball down the middle nearly releases Hojlund on goal. Gabriel grapples with the striker and does just enough to put him off. Both teams look good going forward.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 19 min: De Bruyne spins around Eze\u2019s flailing leg and is brought down. No idea why Eze isn\u2019t booked, but the Arsenal<\/a> player gets away with it. De Bruyne is fuming.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 18 min: Politano finds some space down the right but his looping cross is easy pickings for Raya. Better from Napoli<\/a>, though; the hosts are working their way into this match after a slow start.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 16 min: De Bruyne should release Santos on the left but tries a trickier pass for Hojlund down the middle. It\u2019s no good. The ball breaks to Politano, who shoots harmlessly from his position on the right.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 15 min: Napoli<\/a> spend some time patiently passing around the back. Suddenly Di Lorenzo is released down the right. He rolls infield for De Bruyne, who pearls a shot straight at Raya. It\u2019s too hot to handle. Raya spills, but Santos can\u2019t get to the rebound. White pings it off the Napoli man and it\u2019s a goal kick.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 13 min: Eze is clipped out on the left and Odegaard sends the free kick diagonally into the Napoli box. Gabriel doesn\u2019t win the header. Napoli clear. Politano acrobatically keeps the ball in play out on the left, but only manages to set Arsenal<\/a> off on the attack again. The ball\u2019s sent into the middle, where Saka bicycle kicks straight into Meret\u2019s arms. Arsenal full of confidence.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 11 min: Arsenal<\/a> continue to stroke it around nicely, and after a few triangles down the right are completed, Saka releases Rice into the box with a sliderule pass. Rice\u2019s attempt at a cutback is no good, and hacked clear.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 9 min: One corner leads to another, and from the second, Napoli<\/a> tear clear on the counter. Hojlund bombs up the inside-right channel and feeds Santos on the overlap. Santos enters the box and slices a cross over the bar and out for a goal kick. That was a good opportunity for Napoli.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 8 min: It\u2019s all the all-reds of Arsenal<\/a> in these early exchanges. Eze has a whack from distance and the ball deflects out for the first corner of the match. Rice to take, with Napoli having left four players on the halfway line, Chelsea-at-the-weekend style.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 7 min: Some more action for White down the right. He chases what looks like a lost cause and digs out a cross. Easy for Meret, with no Arsenal<\/a> player anywhere near the keeper.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 6 min: Odegaard and White combine neatly down the right and find Saka in a small pocket of space inside the Napoli<\/a> box. Saka has nanoseconds to shoot, and his effort is easily and effectively blocked. Nice move, though.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 4 min: De Bruyne finds a little bit of space out on the right, and curls a low cross into the Arsenal<\/a> box. There\u2019s no Napoli presence within, and it\u2019s easy for Raya.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 2 min: Arsenal<\/a> are wearing red shorts. Full marks for considering those with colour blindness, and acting with compassion. It doesn\u2019t look good, mind. It\u2019s just not Arsenal.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n After a moment to remember the victims of the devastating floods in Nepal, Arsenal<\/a> get the ball rolling. A blistering atmosphere at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona; did anyone expect anything else?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The teams are out! Napoli wear sky blue, with a fancy gold crest that celebrates their 100th anniversary. Arsenal<\/a> sport their first-choice red shirts, and would do well to change their underwhelming modern badge back to the Victoria Concordia Crescit version, or perhaps the Art Deco hexagon from the 1930s, but good luck getting that past the copyright lawyers. Anyway, I\u2019ve gone off piste. Massimiliano Allegri and Mikel Arteta are hugging. We\u2019ll be off in a minute.<\/p>\n Arsenal’s Ben White and Napoli’s Amir Rrahmani and teammates head onto the pitch. Photograph: Ciro De Luca\/ReutersBring it in big guy. Photograph: Ciro De Luca\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.10 EDT<\/p>\n Mikel Arteta speaks to TNT Sports. \u201cWe were lucky [regarding the flight over] \u2026 I am sure it was much worse for many tourists \u2026 [Hincapi\u00e9, Eze, Gy\u00f6keres and Merino] deserve to play \u2026 they train really well \u2026 every time they have been on the pitch as finishers they have made an impact \u2026 they fully deserve to start the game \u2026 I could not wait to start playing in the Champions League<\/a> again \u2026 after the last days we had in Budapest, to lift ourselves up and go again \u2026 start the journey again \u2026 [Napoli] have a lot of experience and quality \u2026 a coach with massive experience in the competition \u2026 we are ready \u2026 to be ourselves and win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Pre-match postbag. \u201cWhy have such a stacked squad if you can\u2019t make Saka and Rice the ones rested? The fact that it\u2019s early in the season doesn\u2019t really work because their summer was a bunch of extra work\u201d \u2013 Zach Neeley<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough Kai won\u2019t feature among the starters, your chosen pic does offer plenty of food for thought, prompting one to wonder how much expert consideration has gone into crafting all the various hair zones on his head, or how it is that someone with a bag can have so many loose items on his person?\u201d \u2013 Dr Jordan Pickering<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Fancy a deeper dive into Napoli\u2019s dispiriting defeat to Inter last weekend? Nicky Bandini has all the details.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Arsenal make four changes to their starting XI following the 2-1 victory over Chelsea. Typically, having just posted a large picture of Kai Havertz, he\u2019s one of four players stood down, along with Myles Lewis-Skelly, Christos Tzolis and the increasingly influential Riccardo Calafiori. Piero Hincapi\u00e9, Eberechi Eze, Mikel Merino and Viktor Gy\u00f6keres \u2013 the latter making his first start of the season \u2013 are in.<\/p>\n Napoli have a few faces familiar to Premier League fans in their starting XI. Billy Gilmour, formerly of Chelsea, Norwich and Brighton; Manchester City legend Kevin De Bruyne; and erstwhile Manchester United striker Rasmus H\u00f8jlund. Scott McTominay, also once of Old Trafford, is out until next month, having recently had successful surgery to treat an irregular heartbeat.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.07 EDT<\/p>\n The teams<\/p>\n Napoli: Meret, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Marin, Olivera, Gilmour, Lobotka, De Bruyne, Politano, Hojlund, Alisson Santos. Arsenal: Raya, White, Konsa, Gabriel, Hincapie, Merino, Rice, Saka, Odegaard, Eze, Gyokeres. Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)<\/p>\n Arsenal’s keeper David Raya makes a diving save during the warm up. Photograph: Guglielmo Mangiapane\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.08 EDT<\/p>\n Worry not, people. While this \u2026<\/p>\n \u2026 meant this happened \u2026<\/p>\n \u2026 Arsenal<\/a> are in the house. As proof, here\u2019s Kai Havertz arriving at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Not 100 percent sure the Louis Vuitton bag pairs well with the Adidas clobber. The lanyard definitely clashes.<\/p>\n Kai Havertz of Arsenal, Adidas and Louis Vuitton fame. Photograph: Stuart MacFarlane\/Arsenal FC\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n Arsenal came so close last time round. But now they\u2019ve got that Premier League monkey off their back, perhaps this season will finally be their moment to fill that conspicuous big-eared gap on their roll of honour. Because having slaked their domestic thirst, they\u2019ve spent the first few games of this campaign with supreme confidence, swanning around like they own the place, which at the moment they kind of do. Spirits are at an all-time high \u2026<\/p>\n \u2026 and that\u2019s before taking into consideration that near miss last season. Because while Arsenal\u2019s 2025-26 Champions League<\/a> tilt ended in despair, the bare facts are nevertheless something to take pride in: a 100-percent record in the league phase, unbeaten in regular time over the whole piece with a W11 D4 record, and the best defensive record (just seven goals conceded, nine clean sheets) of everyone. And having gone toe to toe with PSG, the best team in Europe, there\u2019s little left to fear. Apart from perhaps another penalty shootout, that is, but that\u2019s a bridge to cross sometime in the future.<\/p>\n Napoli by contrast have won just two of their last ten games in the Champions League, and failed to get past the league phase last year. They\u2019ve lost their last three Champions League matches against English teams, and three of their four previous fixtures against Arsenal. And while the Gunners have started their domestic campaign thrillingly, Gli Azzurri have begun Serie A miserably, following up a home defeat to Como by frittering away a two-goal lead against Inter and coming away with nothing.<\/p>\n So all signs point to an opening victory for last year\u2019s runners-up. And yet Mikel Arteta won\u2019t be taking anything for granted, partly because that\u2019s just not how he rolls, but mainly because he\u2019s already tasted defeat in Naples as a player, getting himself sent off in the process<\/a>. Oh Mikel! Kick-off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is at 8pm BST, 9pm local. It\u2019s on!<\/p>\n
Subs: Contini, Milinkovic-Savic, Favasuli, Badiashile, Neres, Lucca, Vergara, Beukema, Spinazzola.<\/p>\n
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Meslier, Tzolis, Madueke, Havertz, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Guimaraes, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman, Salmon.<\/p>\n