Manchester City continue its impressive run by taking on Napoli. Napoli should rest players for the Champions League game against Manchester City because they face Inter Milan in Serie A on Saturday, says president Aurelio de Laurentiis. The Naples club have not won the league since 1980 but are two points clear of nearest rivals Inter at the top. City could have forward Sergio Aguero back in their side, three weeks after he broke a rib in a car crash. Captain Vincent Kompany remains doubtful with a calf injury. City are top of Group F after winning their opening two games - against Shakhtar Donetsk and Feyenoord - without conceding. Napoli are third in the group, level on three points with Shakhtar. 'City game is almost impossible to win' Belgium striker Dries Mertens has helped propel Napoli to the top of Serie A with seven goals in eight league games this season. But whether boss Maurizio Sarri plays the 30-year-old against City remains to be seen. Mertens has been directly involved in nine of Napoli's past 14 Champions League goals, scoring six and providing three assists. "City? I think that some of our players should sit out this game, with Inter only around the corner and being just as important," said De Laurentiis. "For us, it could also be a game that's almost impossible to win, but we'll wait for them in Naples." Napoli have won all eight of their Serie A games so far this season, scoring 26 goals and conceding just five. Read: Sterling sees long-term future at Man City How likely are Man City to progress? Sports data specialists Gracenote Sports have simulated the remainder of the Champions League group phase one million times based on their current ratings for the clubs involved and their results to date, and have come up with a probability percentage of each side progressing to the knockout stage. Simon Gleave, head of analysis at Gracenote Sports, said: "Manchester City's win against Shakhtar Donetsk was expected but still pushes the club's chance of progress up to 93%. The two matches against Group F's second best team, Napoli, will go a long way to deciding City's passage." Napoli chasing first win on English soil - stats Napoli have never won an away game against English opposition in all competitions, losing five of their six trips, conceding 15 goals and scoring only three. City and Napoli's only previous meeting came in the 2011-12 Champions League group stages. The Italians were unbeaten, drawing 1-1 in Manchester before winning 2-1 in Naples. City are unbeaten in their past 10 Champions League home games (W7 D3). This is City's seventh consecutive Champions League campaign. They have made it past the last 16 only once, reaching the semi-finals in 2015-16. Napoli have progressed to the knockout stages in two of their three previous appearances but have never made it further than the last 16. ***prbxselfnetwork***
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