Napoli have to get at least one goal on the board away to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on Thursday if they want to reach the Europa League final. The Ukrainians snatched a solid 1-1 draw in Italy last week, thanks to Yevhen Seleznyov's goal late in the game. The two teams have met twice before last week and each side won the home fixture, Dnipro had a 3-1 victory in Ukraine while Napoli won 4-2 at the Stadio San Paolo.
Dnipro have a good chance of qualifying considering the first leg result, even though they were on the back foot for most of the game. In fact, the Ukrainians had just 30% ball possession during the first leg but the away goal rewarded their defensive efforts. Last weekend they lost the chance to fight for the title in Ukraine, they were beaten 2-0 at home by Zorya and the result left them nine points behind leaders Dynamo Kiev. Dnipro will have to do without Serhiy Kravchenko and Roman Zozulya, while Yevhen Shakhov is in doubt.
Napoli seemed on track for a victory last week as they dominated the first leg but they were punished by a late strike. The Italians know that winning the Europa League is a big target for them as qualification for next season's Champions League might not be possible through their Serie A placement. Last weekend they were held to a shocking 2-2 draw by already relegated Parma, which means that they remain three points behind third-placed Lazio with just three games left in the season. Michu remains sidelined but Gonzalo Higuain will surely play after being rested last weekend.
Probable line-ups:
Dnipro: Boyko - Fedetskiy, Douglas, Cheberyachko, Matos - Fedorchuk, Kankava, Luchkevych, Rotan, Konoplyanka - Kalinic
Napoli: Andujar - Maggio, Albiol, Britos, Ghoulam - Jorginho, Lopez, Callejon, Hamsik - Insigne, Higuain
My prediction: 1-1 draw (after 90 minutes)
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Dnipro win - 10/3 Draw - 13/5 Napoli win - 19/20
Alexa Alexa 8 years ago
Dnipro lost their last match in Ukranian Premier League.They lost 0-2 from Zorya.Now we see that they were only prepairing for Napoli.In final they will be underdogs,but they were in that position since they entered eliminating round in Europa League,so it would not be weird to them.
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mdacic 8 years ago
Dnipro is first time in their history in the final of any European competition. Great result for them and big chance to play in Champions league next year. In the final they will have very strong opponent but when they can beat Napoli they can play with Sevilla for sure. So I expect great final match and victory for Sevilla...
Dnipro is first time in their history in the final of any European competition. Great result for them and big chance to play in Champions league next year. In the final they will have very strong opponent but when they can beat Napoli they can play with Sevilla for sure. So I expect great final match and victory for Sevilla but not so easy.
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rikimartin4444_115925
8 years ago
What a great result for Dnipro. They are in the Europa League final. Who would expect that on the beginning of the season. They deserved this. Played very well all season long, strong in defense and fast in counter-attack. Napoli disappointed in these two games. I expect much more from them. This season is failed for them....
What a great result for Dnipro. They are in the Europa League final. Who would expect that on the beginning of the season. They deserved this. Played very well all season long, strong in defense and fast in counter-attack. Napoli disappointed in these two games. I expect much more from them. This season is failed for them.
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Alexa Alexa 8 years ago
Dnipro players were very serious all the game.They had been concentrating on this game few days ago,Dnipro deserved this,They showed much more than Napoli,Neapolitans simply did not make enough effort to get through the finals.They will have to try harder next season.
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seculla
8 years ago
I still can't believe that Napoli can play this bad as they played against Parma in last round in Serie A and also tonight in Ukraine against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. If you ask me, Dnipro deserved this final in Europa League, despite that goal from offside in Italy, because they knew what they want to do and gave all they...
I still can't believe that Napoli can play this bad as they played against Parma in last round in Serie A and also tonight in Ukraine against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. If you ask me, Dnipro deserved this final in Europa League, despite that goal from offside in Italy, because they knew what they want to do and gave all they had to qualify in the finals. On the other side Rafa Benitez and Napoli underestimated their opponents and they paid for that. Congratulations to Dnipro.
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sharpe
8 years ago
The Ukrainians still have their chance after the first game when they were a second best team on the field but were able to clinch 1-1 draw. Napoli is still the strong favorite to go trough to the final but now it will be a much tougher for them to do that. Will be a interesting rematch in which both teams will have their...
The Ukrainians still have their chance after the first game when they were a second best team on the field but were able to clinch 1-1 draw. Napoli is still the strong favorite to go trough to the final but now it will be a much tougher for them to do that. Will be a interesting rematch in which both teams will have their chances I think.
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Alexa Alexa 8 years ago
Napoli really is having a great chance to make something big.They also were pretty lucky with the draw,but even that was not enough for them to make a win at home.Tonight they will show are they capable of doing big things.Their fans are fantastic,they all live for the club,and they deffinitely deserve this trophy.
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h34dhunt3r
8 years ago
This match should be highlight of tonights Uefa League. Napoli, in result crisis, few draws in a row and not result they wanted after first match versus Ukranians. Dnipro, on the other hand, is only hope for eastern europe for this season. They got positive result from first match, and will be looking to keep it for tonights...
This match should be highlight of tonights Uefa League. Napoli, in result crisis, few draws in a row and not result they wanted after first match versus Ukranians. Dnipro, on the other hand, is only hope for eastern europe for this season. They got positive result from first match, and will be looking to keep it for tonights match. Don't get me wrong, Napoli is still favourite. But Dnipro showed us how to play on result during entire season of Europa league. Bet vise, I think that Napoli is gonna win. But I've betted X2 and 3 or more goals just to be sure. My predicitons: - Result: 1:2 for Napoli; - Man of the match: Manolo Gabbiadini
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mdacic 8 years ago
This competition is only chance for both teams to play in Champions league next season and that is most important right now for both teams and we all must agree that Napoli is the team with more quality players in squad and they should play in Champions League but I think that tonight it won't be easy match for them but...
This competition is only chance for both teams to play in Champions league next season and that is most important right now for both teams and we all must agree that Napoli is the team with more quality players in squad and they should play in Champions League but I think that tonight it won't be easy match for them but they will win and go into the final.
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rikimartin4444_115925
8 years ago
This is a very interesting match. Napoli were much better opponent in firs leg but they failed to win. They gave everything on Europa League, because that is only way for them to go to the Champions League. I think they will win this game, they are way better team. My prediction for tonight match is 1-3 Napoli win.
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Alexa Alexa 8 years ago
Neapolitan players will have to do their best to win this.Dnypro can start with loth of reserve in their legs.Napoli is better team,there is no doubt about that,but it is never easy to win so far from your home.Dnypro is hard team to beat at their home coure,so I predict another draw,possibly again 1-1...
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seculla
8 years ago
After first match that Dnipro and Napoli played at Stadio San Paolo, and very surprising result, I expect that this match will be very interesting. I'm not so sure that Dnipro deserved that draw, not just because they scored their equalizer from offside position, but because Napoli had the ball control over whole 90 minutes...
After first match that Dnipro and Napoli played at Stadio San Paolo, and very surprising result, I expect that this match will be very interesting. I'm not so sure that Dnipro deserved that draw, not just because they scored their equalizer from offside position, but because Napoli had the ball control over whole 90 minutes and also they had many chances but they didn't had luck or didn't know how to score from them. Anyway, I expect that Napoli will win in this match and that they will be one of the teams participating in this season's final.
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galata86 8 years ago
After draw in first match 1-1 Dnipro have great result here. Napoli have better team, more quality players but I think that they will have hard task to win in Ukraine and go into finals of Europa league. Dnipro know how to defend and they are great on counter attacks and that is perfect tactic for them.
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