Get the lowdown on Liverpool FC's Europa League group stage opponents

16 September 2010 02:30
With Liverpool's Europa League campaign about to begin, we have contacted experts from Italy, Romania and Holland to get some insider insights on the Reds' group stage opponents.[LNB]Hodgson's men play Napoli in back-to-back Europa League ties, in Italy on 21 October and in Liverpool on 4 November. Paolo Mancini is a dedicated Napoli supporter who blogs about the club on his website - http://napoliblogger.tumblr.com/[LNB]What are Napoli's expectations for the Europa League?[LNB]Paolo: The fact Napoli are playing Europa League football is a minor miracle. Being declared bankrupt in 2004 and then made to start afresh in the third tier of Italian football, many of us thought we would never see European nights in Naples for years. Yet here we are in the group stage of the Europa League, a dream for many fans and the players especially after getting beat in a UEFA Cup qualifier in 2008 by Benfica.[LNB] Being former winners of the UEFA Cup we feel a duty to give it our best shot. The squad isn't too deep so we will pretty much be sending our strongest side out to play. We want to go as far as possible, not only to prove to ourselves we belong in Europe but to show everyone watching that Napoli is back.[LNB]The club hierarchy, however, do not view the Europa League highly. It has been a long held ambition of club patron and movie mogul Aurelio De Laurentis to get Napoli into the Champions League saying recently, "the Europa League is worthless".[LNB]Liverpool and Steaua are two famous names that wouldn't look out of place in the Champions League, so getting out of the group is going to be tough. If we can do that then I can see us getting to the last 16.[LNB] Who are Napoli's dangermen?[LNB]We possess a number of attacking threats. We have recently signed Uruguayan World Cup striker Edinson Cavani. He scored two goals on his first full debut against Elfsborg. He will be used as the main striker - he is big and powerful but also technically gifted.[LNB]Besides him we have Argentine international Ezequiel Lavezzi, a stocky secondary striker similar in build to Carlos Tevez. He likes to works the flanks and cut inside, he has a few tricks up his sleeve also and draws fouls from defenders.[LNB]We have Slovakia star Marek Hamsik, a midfielder very similar to Frank Lampard. He is an excellent passer of the ball and has a habit of arriving late into the box to connect with any crosses. For a midfielder he scores lots of goals.[LNB]What are Napoli's main weaknesses?[LNB]Our main weakness is the central defence. We usually play with three central defenders, Paolo Cannavaro is one of those - Fabio's brother. He is solid Serie A defender but his positioning is suspect and he is also prone to giving away penalties.[LNB]Our other central defenders looked exposed against Elfsborg and if we were playing better opposition would have got punished.[LNB]Our other weakness is our lack of depth the squad, we don't have quality replacements for our strikers especially after we just sold fan favourite and Italy international Fabio Quagliarella to Juventus, a move which has not gone down well in Naples.[LNB]What style of football can Liverpool expect from Napoli?[LNB]Napoli tend to play 3-4-3 or a variation of this (3-4-1-2). We are setup to play on the counter attack, our two holding midfielders will look to break the play up and then get the ball from back to front as quick as possible using the pace of Lavezzi and Hamsik.[LNB]Our wing-backs like to get forward too so don't be surprised to see a now slimline Andrea Dossena flying down the left wing - yes, he is looking decent!![LNB]What is your prediction for the group?[LNB]1) Liverpool2) Napoli3) Steaua Bucharest4) FC Utrecht

Source: Liverpool_Echo