Man City v Napoli Champions League Betting Odds 14.09.11

City kick off Champions League debut at Eastlands

Champions League Betting

Manchester City v Napoli Champions League betting sees the welcome return of two sides to Europe’s elite competition. Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City booked their first trip to the Champions League with a third place finish in the Premier League last season, and it has been a very long 43 years since we have seen them compete at this level. Napoli have been in the same boat really, but not for quite as long, as they have been absent from top European competition for 21 years now. So both sides are making their debut in the Champions League format of the European Cup. For City, you have to back, way back to 1968/69 when they played in the European Champions Clubs’ Cup and got knocked out in the first round. Manchester City already look to be building on the massive steps they took forward last year, rattling off four wins from four in the new Premier League season, keeping pace with rivals Manchester United. City, who have been berated over the past couple of years for some negative and unadventurous play, have fired off 15 goals in their four matches so far, making a fantastic start. New summer signing Sergio Aguero looks to already be an extremely profitable move, as the Uruguayan struck a hat trick on the weekend against Wigan. Spaniard David Silva also continues to be a massive influence in the side as well, and even Carlos Tevez got his first start of the season on the weekend. Manchester City look as if they are growing up very fast, and now it will be interesting to see how they cope with the demands of the Champions League. They have drawn a tough group, with Bayern Munich and Villarreal also in the mix in Group A, and that is why it is imperative that City get off to the strongest start possible here. Mancini firmly believes that Manchester City can get even better, so now will be the time to prove it.

They certainly have good depth in their squad, and should be able to cope with the demands, but it is no secret that these tough European matches can be distracting. There are a lot of comparisons to draw between Napoli and Manchester City, as they both have been coming to a boil in their respective domestic leagues. Manchester City have obviously spent big and are only looking ahead, to taste the kinds of success that their city neighbours United have had for so long. They seem as if they are actually now in a position to really be a threat and are trading well in outright betting for the Champions League, and for a first time entrant going off at 11/1 with Boylesports to win the tournament outright, it shows exactly how they are perceived. This of course isn’t City’s sudden drastic re-entry into European competition, as they reached the last 16 of the Europa League last year. They crashed out to Dynamo Kiev after putting up some pretty strong home performances, so that all could well have been a good testing ground for City to take on the Champions League. City do have an impressive run of form at the Stadium of Light, having not lost in twelve European matches played there. While City have not met Napoli ever before, they have had a brief flirtation with Italian opposition, which includes a 1-1 draw with Juventus in last year’s Europa League.

So what of Napoli? Well they haven’t come across English opposition very often in their history, in fact, when they met Liverpool in the Europa League last season, was the first time they had squared off against an English team. They drew 0-0 at home and then lost 3-1 to Liverpool in the group stage of last season’s Europa League. But Napoli really came good in Serie A last year, and with their third place finish, they secured their best league finish for over twenty years. Serie A is one of the last major European Leagues to get underway, and so Napoli have only one match under their belt this season. It was a good one though, as they won away at Cesena 3-1. It was a good start and they looked pretty sharp and dynamic.

Manchester City v Napoli Champions League Betting Odds
Manchester City to win: 2/5 at Totesport
Draw: 4/1 at Paddy Power
Napoli to win: 9/1 at Bet365

Manchester City v Napoli Betting Tip: It is a good fixture for Manchester City to start their Champions League campaign off with, and would pencil them in for a win. They have shown a lot of class up front and the home crowd will want that to continue. Not sure if Mancini is going to play things a little more cautiously in Europe or take a lesson from Tottenham’s debutant efforts last year and simply go for it. Either way, they should win this on home turf. We’ll take a Manchester City 1.5 Asian Handicap for 11/10 at VC Bet.

Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, MAN CITY (11/at Boylesports to win Champions League outright), Napoli