Villarreal vs Napoli: Allegri's injury-hit Napoli are short of goals, and Pérez's Villarreal have not kept a clean sheet since pre-season
By Margus Sellin · · 5 min
Champions League · League phase, matchday 2
Villarreal
Napoli
- Kick-off
- Venue
- Estadio de la Cerámica, Villarreal
Our call: Villarreal win 2–1
Alberto Moleiro between the lines against a Napoli side short of fit players, and a Villarreal defence that still leaks.
Logged 11 Oct, 09:30 CEST, never edited. We'll mark this call after full time.
In 30 seconds
- Both sides lost on matchday 1 and sit on zero points: Villarreal 3–2 in Dortmund, Napoli 1–0 at home to Arsenal.
- Napoli travel without Anguissa and Vergara, with Olivera and McTominay doubtful.
- Napoli will score at the Cerámica, and Villarreal will still score more.
The story
Two clubs with new managers, and no points yet. Iñigo Pérez came from Rayo Vallecano in June to replace Marcelino at Villarreal; Massimiliano Allegri took over at Napoli in July after Antonio Conte left. Villarreal lost 3–2 in Dortmund on matchday 1 and Napoli lost 1–0 at home to Arsenal, so both go into the second round with no points and a goal difference of minus one: Villarreal 21st of 36, Napoli 27th. A win puts either side back in the race for the top 24.
Full table: Champions League 2026/27 explained
Pérez's first months have swung hard. Villarreal lost four in a row, at Alavés, at home to Deportivo La Coruña and Real Betis, and in Dortmund, then won at Málaga and at home to Levante before the international break. They attack: 18 goals in their ten games up to 20 Sep. They also leak: 16 against in the same ten, and they have conceded in every game since a 1–0 pre-season win over Levante on 5 Aug. UEFA counts 12 Champions League games without a win for the club.
Allegri's problem is fit players. Mathias Olivera came back from Uruguay duty with a muscle strain, Frank Anguissa is out, Antonio Vergara was hurt with Italy and Alessandro Buongiorno is still missing. Scott McTominay is back in the squad a month after surgery for a mild heart arrhythmia, but Allegri says he is not fully fit. Napoli have 5 goals in their last five games and lost three of them, to Como, Inter and Arsenal. Against Frosinone on Sat 10 Oct, Allegri went to a back three and moved Kevin De Bruyne into midfield.
One thread runs between the clubs: Rafa Marín, at centre-back for Napoli in Florence on 20 Sep, spent last season on loan at Villarreal. This game turns on the space in front of him, where Alberto Moleiro plays.
Form
Latest →
Villarreal
- 20 SepW3–1v LEVLL
- 17 SepW3–1at MALLL
- 14 SepL1–2v RBBLL
- 8 SepL2–3at BVBUCL
- 5 SepL2–3v DEPLL
Four defeats in a row from 28 Aug, then two wins before the break.
Napoli
- 20 SepD1–1at FIOSA
- 13 SepW1–0v BOLSA
- 9 SepL0–1v ARSUCL
- 5 SepL2–3at INTSA
- 30 AugL1–2v COMSA
Three defeats in a row from 30 Aug, then a win over Bologna and a draw in Florence.
Latest on the left, up to the international break. LL = La Liga, SA = Serie A, UCL = Champions League. OddsIntel match database, read 9 Oct 2026.
Team news
Villarreal
- OutTajon Buchanan: a hamstring injury from Canada duty, confirmed by the club after tests on Thu 8 Oct with no return date. He started on the left against Levante, so Pérez needs another wide man.(reported)
- BackSanti Comesaña: training with the group again after a physical problem, an option in the two in front of the defence.(reported)
Napoli
- DoubtfulMathias Olivera: a muscle strain from Uruguay duty. He started at left-back in Florence; Allegri said on Fri 9 Oct he could be back within days.(reported)
- OutFrank Anguissa: out, Allegri said on Sat 10 Oct.(reported)
- OutAntonio Vergara: hurt with Italy in the break; Football Italia reports about three weeks out.(reported)
- DoubtfulScott McTominay: back on the bench a month after heart surgery, but not fully fit, Allegri says. More likely a substitute than a starter.(reported)
Line-ups: confirmed about an hour before kick-off. They'll go under Updates. We don't publish guessed XIs.
Checked Sat 10 Oct 21:15 CEST: villarrealcf.es, sscnapoli.it, UEFA.com and Football Italia; EFE and Europa Press for Buchanan and Comesaña. Football Italia also lists Buongiorno, Favasuli and Alisson Santos as out. Reported = not yet confirmed by the club.
Neither side's missing scorer is hurt. Georges Mikautadze has 3 goals in Villarreal's last ten but was on the bench against Levante on Sun 20 Sep; he came on and scored the third, then started both of Georgia's games in the break. Lorenzo Lucca, also on 3 for Napoli, has been Allegri's option off the bench: "a useful substitute", the manager called him on Sat 10 Oct, and he was in the squad for Frosinone.
Napoli 4-2-3-1 · at Fiorentina, 20 Sep
- Milinković-Savić
- Di LorenzoRrahmaniMarínOlivera
- GilmourLobotka (key battle)
- PolitanoDe BruyneLang
- Højlund
- Ayoze Pérez
- BuchananMoleiro (key battle)Akhomach
- SalibaGueye
- CardonaVeigaNavarroFreeman
- Gulácsi
Villarreal 4-2-3-1 · v Levante, 20 Sep
Both last XIs on a pitch
Napoli 4-2-3-1 · at Fiorentina, 20 Sep
- Milinković-Savić
- Di LorenzoRrahmaniMarínOlivera
- GilmourLobotka (key battle)
- PolitanoDe BruyneLang
- Højlund
- Ayoze Pérez
- BuchananMoleiro (key battle)Akhomach
- SalibaGueye
- CardonaVeigaNavarroFreeman
- Gulácsi
Villarreal 4-2-3-1 · v Levante, 20 Sep
Who to watch
The duel to watch: Alberto Moleiro against Stanislav Lobotka. Moleiro plays behind the striker; against Levante he scored one and set up Mikautadze for another. Lobotka screens the Napoli defence. If he follows Moleiro, Ayoze Pérez gets the room behind him. If he lets Moleiro turn, Napoli's centre-backs face him running at them.
Villarreal
Ayoze Pérez
Villarreal's striker in the last XI, up against Marín, who spent last season at Villarreal.
- 2
- goals, Villarreal's last 10
Napoli
Kevin De Bruyne
Napoli's chance-maker, moved deeper by Allegri for Frosinone.
- 3
- goals, Napoli's last 10
Goals in each side's last ten games before the break, all competitions and friendlies. OddsIntel match database, read 9 Oct 2026.
Head-to-head
Villarreal won the last competitive meeting, a Europa League tie in February 2016 (1–0 at home, 1–1 in Naples). Napoli won both Champions League games in 2011 without conceding.
Result for Villarreal
- 17 Dec 2022Napoli v VillarrealClub friendly2–3W
- 25 Feb 2016Napoli v VillarrealEuropa League, Naples1–1D
- 18 Feb 2016Villarreal v NapoliEuropa League, Villarreal1–0W
- 7 Dec 2011Villarreal v NapoliChampions League, Villarreal0–2L
- 27 Sep 2011Napoli v VillarrealChampions League, Naples2–0L
The last five meetings, a friendly included. OddsIntel match database, read 9 Oct 2026.
Numbers that matter
Goals scored, last five: Villarreal 11.0, Napoli 5.0 (higher is better)
Villarreal more than double Napoli's output over the five before the break.
Goals conceded, last ten · fewer is better: Villarreal 16.0, Napoli 11.0 (lower is better)
Napoli are the tighter side; four of their ten were friendlies.
Clean sheets, last ten: Villarreal 1.0, Napoli 3.0 (higher is better)
The surprise: Villarreal's only one came in pre-season.
Last five or ten games each before the break, all competitions and friendlies, as labelled. OddsIntel match database, read 9 Oct 2026.
Our call, explained
We have Villarreal winning 2–1. They have scored in 9 of their last 10, and at home against a Napoli side without Anguissa and perhaps Olivera, Moleiro and Ayoze should find room. Napoli still have Højlund and De Bruyne, and Villarreal's defence has given them little reason to expect a shut-out, so we expect Napoli to score once.
Where this could go wrong. Villarreal are short of confidence at the back, and a Napoli side that shut out Bologna and Genoa can frustrate them if the new back three holds. Then a draw is the likelier miss. The other way, if Villarreal's defence has another loose night, Højlund is the one to punish it and Napoli could take all three points.
Updates
Nothing has changed since we published. Next: confirmed line-ups, about an hour before kick-off.
Data note: results, scorers, the table and line-ups from our database (API-Football), read 9 Oct 20:10 UTC and covering games up to 20 Sep; the league games of Sat 10 Oct (Villarreal at Real Madrid, Napoli v Frosinone) are not in these numbers. Team news and match details from villarrealcf.es, sscnapoli.it, UEFA.com, Football Italia, EFE and Europa Press.
Our calls so far: 18 right of 21
Right means we called the winner, or the draw, after 90 minutes. 2 of them were the exact score. Every call is scored after full time, misses included.
For comparison, calling the home team every time would have been right 11 of 21.
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