Napoli were two goals up at San Siro on Saturday and still found a way to lose. Arsenal will have watched the collapse with interest. They should pay just as much attention to the hour that came before it.
Wednesday’s Champions League opener brings Arteta up against a side whose results are worse than some of their football. Allegri is trying to put that right, and a home game against Arsenal offers an immediate opportunity to change the conversation. This has the makings of an awkward first European trip.
Napoli began their league season by beating Genoa 2-0, then lost 2-1 at home to Como before the 3-2 defeat at Inter. Five goals conceded in two matches gives Arsenal something to attack. It also leaves Allegri with a decision about how much ambition he can afford against a side arriving straight from victory over Chelsea.
His explanation for Inter’s first goal was telling. Napoli, he said in the club’s match report, thought the ball had gone out of play. Lautaro Martínez scored while they were expecting the game to stop. That is a costly lapse for any side, particularly one trying to protect a lead away from home.
Arsenal should make them work for every pause on Wednesday. Keep the ball moving after a clearance and follow up the first shot. Napoli have given Arteta a reason to demand persistence from his forwards.
There is plenty at the other end to keep Arsenal occupied. Politano scored first at Inter, then Højlund made it two with a shot from outside the area. The match was goalless at half-time. Within eight minutes of the restart, Napoli had put themselves in a position to win it.
Højlund’s goal is a useful warning against letting memories of his Manchester United difficulties do the scouting. Arsenal have to deal with the striker in front of them. Give him room to turn towards goal and he has the power to finish before a defender gets close enough to interfere.
Then there is De Bruyne, an opponent Arsenal hardly need introducing to. He could start on Wednesday after coming off the bench at Inter.
De Bruyne had already scored and supplied an assist off the bench in the opening win against Genoa. His influence can arrive quickly. Arsenal will want pressure on him as the pass reaches his feet, because allowing him to look up makes Højlund’s movement a much bigger problem. Rice cannot spend the evening chasing the pass after it has gone.
Politano’s account of the Inter game also offered a clue to Allegri’s thinking. He described an intense defensive approach early on and regretted the counterattacking chances Napoli failed to use. Arsenal should be prepared to have plenty of the ball while still feeling that the next mistake could be expensive.
Sunday’s win gives Arsenal something to take with them. All 11 players were involved in the passing move for Havertz’s equaliser against Chelsea. Ødegaard’s winner followed later, after Havertz let Tzolis’s pass run through to him. Having gone behind, Arsenal still trusted themselves to work an opening, a quality they may need if Napoli make them wait on Wednesday.
Arteta has only three days between the games, so some changes would be understandable. The more useful question is whether the players coming in can keep Arsenal playing with the same intent. A fresh side that struggles to connect its attacks could give Napoli the breathing room their recent defending suggests they need.
Arteta has his own memories of this fixture. He was sent off in Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat here in December 2013, when Napoli became the first side eliminated from a Champions League group with 12 points. They had won four of their six games and still went out. Arsenal survived on the head-to-head record.
There will be uncomfortable spells at the Maradona. Arsenal should expect them without deciding in advance that a draw would represent a good night’s work. Napoli have enough quality to punish carelessness, but they have given away enough already for Arsenal to travel with the intention of winning.
Allegri needs a convincing response. Arsenal should make him look for it somewhere else.
Gerry G – Goonerviews
