Napoli v Real Madrid Betting Tips: Second-leg to follow the same path as first

Having come from behind to secure a 3-1 victory in the first-leg, Real Madrid take a commanding lead with them when travelling to Stadio San Paolo on Tuesday night. However, with an away-goal in the bag, Napoli are from out of this contest and are sure to throw everything they have at a Madrid back-line that hasn’t exactly been hard to breach in recent times.

Goals were very much the order of the day when these two met in the first-leg and, with the tie set up the way it is, goals are fancied to arrive in no small number here. Not only are Napoli forced to make something happen which should open up the game, but these are two very attack-minded teams anyway so a dull, low-scoring encounter seems highly unlikely.

There are two bets here that stand out and these are: ‘Over 3.5 Goals’ and ‘Napoli to Score Over 1.5 Goals’. Neither of these two are strangers to high-scoring matches, while the hosts are certainly partial to a few goals on their own patch.

With Napoli needing to score at least two goals it’s unlikely that the Italian outfit will waste too much time in getting the ball forward, after all, their philosophy is very much an attacking one. On their own patch, Maurizio Sarri’s team will definitely fancy their chances of getting at Madrid and will take plenty of confidence from the fact that Zinedine Zidane’s men are without a clean sheet in any of their last four matches.

In front of their own fans, Napoli will have a real go, there’s no doubt about it. The hosts know that they’re capable of scoring goals against any opposition. This season, at Stadio San Paolo, Sarri’s side have found the net at least twice on 12 occasions (all-competitions), while they warmed up nicely for this fixture by scoring a couple of goals away at the defensively astute Roma. Considering that, on the road, Real’s defence has been anything but secure in recent weeks – conceded at least twice in five of their seven away matches in 2017 – Napoli could easily get plenty of joy in the final third if putting their best foot forward.

Given that the style of both is one that focuses almost solely on hurting their opposition on the final third, it’s unsurprising that these two have been involved in several high-scoring affairs so far this season. Not only did the first-leg contain four match goals, but ‘Over 3.5 Goals’ has landed on 15 occasions for Napoli in all competitions this season, including in two of their three Champions League matches at home. As for the visitors, Real have seen at least four match goals hit the net on 19 occasions (all competitions).

There can be no denying that Real are in the driving seat as things stand, but, against a team who’re capable of creating plenty, they’re simply not solid enough at the back, particularly away from home, to sit and protect their lead. With this in mind, coupled with the fact that Napoli will give their all in order to score the required goals, an open, attacking, and ultimately goal-filled, encounter is expected.

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