Napoli faces a tough task on Thursday as the team hosts Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk at Stadio San Paolo in UEFA Europa League play.
Dnipro currently sits in first place in the Group F standings with nine points in three matches. The team has won all three it has played, including a 2-0 against PSV Eindhoven and 3-2 against AIK on Oct. 4.
Napoli is in third place with three points, having won only one match in UEFA play. The team won in dominating fashion 4-0 against AIK and fell 3-0 against PSV Eindhoven on Oct. 4.
Napoli is coming off of a 1-1 draw in Italian Serie A play against Torino on Sunday, while Dnipro has been dominant this season in the Ukrainian Premier League, ranking in second place so far behind FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Napoli has played well in Serie A this season and sits in third place with 23 points.
Napoli had the chance to win against Torino on Sunday, but allowed a goal in injury time that tied the match.
According to UEFA.com, "Napoli, however, are unbeaten in 15 European home games (11 wins and four draws), a run which stretches back to a 1-0 UEFA Cup third round loss to Eintracht Frankfurt on 7 December 1994."
Dnipro and Napoli also faced off on Oct. 25, with Dnipro winning 3-1 in Ukraine.
"This team is not dependent on Cavani, we lost without him at Atalanta but there were a lot of players who came close to scoring," said Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri to ESPNFC.com. "There is a lack of clarity given that we're playing every three days, but they are creating a lot of chances and just haven't had the luck to convert them."
Napoli will have some injured players back on Thursday and will try to avoid mistakes that plagued them last time the two teams played.
"(Salvatore) Aronica and (Eduardo) Vargas will definitely play against Dnipro. We have to be more cunning, but more solid, and we need to pay more attention to the details," said Mazzarri. "To the fans, I will just say that they need to stay behind the players right until the game is finished, and then they can whistle.''
Midfield schemer Gokhan Inler added: "We have improved a lot, and we want to show that we can still do well in the Europa League. (It) is not over yet and we want to prove that we can be there right to the very end. Our mentality is to always go out on the pitch with the will to win, that's what the boss wants.''
Eduardo Vargas has been stellar for Napoli so far, scoring three goals in three matches. The team has only scored five in league play this year, while allowing six goals. Dnipro has a much better goal differential and has scored eight in three matches. Nascimento and Lelte Matheus have three goals each, while Yevhen Seleznyov has two assists on the year.
Dnipro would improve to 4-0 in UEFA league play with a win on Thursday and would qualify for the knockout round with two games left to play.
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