Arteta was sent off in Naples in 2013, and he goes back with a defence that has conceded once

The last time Mikel Arteta left the pitch at Napoli’s stadium he was walking off early. December 2013, Champions League group stage, Napoli winning 2-0 through Gonzalo Higuaín and José Callejón, and Arsenal’s midfielder sent off. He returns on Wednesday night as the manager of the English champions, with a side that has conceded one goal all season.

Arsenal have not been troubled yet

Arsenal open the Champions League league phase at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona at 8pm BST, which is 12.30am on Thursday in India. They arrive on four straight wins. The first was the Community Shield in Cardiff on 16 August, where they beat Manchester City 3-0 and Riccardo Calafiori scored inside 24 seconds. Then three Premier League victories: six goals scored, one conceded, second in the table only because Manchester City have scored one more.

The single goal came on Sunday against Chelsea, 77 seconds in. Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard scored the ones that mattered after that, and Arsenal won 2-1. It is a defensive record that will be tested properly at some point this season, and Naples at night is a reasonable guess at where that happens.

Arteta is without William Saliba, who has a back problem. Jurrien Timber has not played this season and Cristhian Mosquera has a muscle injury, so the centre of the defence is the one area where Arsenal are actually short. Whether that matters against Napoli’s current attack is another question.

Allegri’s first European night in Naples

Napoli have changed a great deal since they last won the league. Antonio Conte left by mutual agreement in the summer, Massimiliano Allegri was appointed on 3 July, and three Serie A matches later Napoli sit 12th with three points. They beat Genoa 2-0 and then lost to Como and to Inter, the second of those from two goals up.

The injury list explains a good deal of it. Scott McTominay, named Serie A’s best player of 2024-25 in his first season in Italy, had a corrective procedure on a minor heart issue and is out for roughly a month. Alessandro Buongiorno and Luca Marianucci both have knee injuries and were left out of the squad entirely. David Neres is a doubt with a knee problem of his own. Allegri is picking a back four with two of his centre-backs unavailable, against a team that has conceded once.

That said, Napoli at home in Europe is not a normal fixture, and Allegri has spent a career making teams hard to beat. A 1-0 that nobody enjoys watching would be entirely on brand.

Four previous meetings, and Arsenal have won three

These clubs have met four times, all in Europe. Arsenal won 2-0 at home in October 2013, Mesut Özil scoring and setting up Olivier Giroud. Napoli won the return 2-0 two months later, the night Arteta saw red. Then the 2018-19 Europa League quarter-final, which Arsenal took 3-0 on aggregate: Aaron Ramsey and a Kalidou Koulibaly own goal at the Emirates, and an Alexandre Lacazette free-kick to win the second leg 1-0 in Naples on 18 April 2019.

Arsenal have not lost in Naples since that 2013 group game. They also have not played a competitive match here since Lacazette’s free kick, which is long enough for none of it to mean very much on Wednesday. What is likely to matter is whether Napoli can put together enough attacking players to trouble a defence that has been asked one serious question in a month, and answered it inside the same 90 minutes.

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