Maurizio Sarri's Napoli host Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Manchester City side in the Champions League clash at the San Paulo tomorrow, with the Serie A side looking to inflict the first defeat on the impressive Blues this season.
Though Sarri's troops are also top of their league, playing a similarly attractive brand of football and scoring a bagful of goals, the Napoli boss is well aware that this City side, which has scored 46 goals already this season and beat his team 2-1 a couple of weeks back at the Etihad Stadium, is a different animal.
Image: PA
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However, fans will be pleasantly surprised to find out who he deems to be the most dangerous player in the City squad. The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Raheem Sterling are just a few of the stupidly strong attacking players Guardiola has at his disposal.
All the aforementioned names have been firing this season, but Sarri overlooked them all when selecting the player he must be fearful.
That's because he went for City's goalkeeper Ederson, a summer signing from Benfica for £35 million. The Brazilian has been utterly brilliant and already looks to be the perfect goalkeeper for Guardiola and his team.
Image: PA
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Commanding, an excellent shot-stopper and all-importantly superb with his feet, Sarri is a big fan and reckons he is City's most dangerous player.
Speaking in his presser ahead of the game, via Football Italia, he said:
"City's most dangerous player? Ederson. I'm being serious, because their goalkeeper didn't miss a single ball out from the back, he played 50 balls with the defence and got them all right, playing well through our pressing."
An interesting shout from the Chilean. He also talked about the defeat to City in the first game and how they approached this one on home soil.
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"In the first match they were devastating in the first 20 minutes, we should ask UEFA if they can come on to the pitch after 21," he joked.
"They deserve great credit for what they did in the first match, no-one has escaped our pressing like that.
"We need to try to drag them into deep water, they're often 2-0 up after half an hour. We need to keep it in the balance, because they're not used to that. We have to get into the game right away, we can create chances but we'll need to play an extraordinary defensive match.
"The match will definitely be the same as the first in terms of interpretation, Guardiola's team won't play a different style and we can't, so it'll be the incidents which change the game.
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"Are they unbeatable? No, because no-one is. But they're the best team in Europe, trained by the best coach in Europe."
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Manchester City, Maurizio Sarri, Pep Guardiola, Ederson, Napoli, Champions League