Lorenzo Insigne Secures Late UCL Win for Napoli over Liverpool

Lorenzo Insigne was the hero for Napoli on Wednesday, scoring a late goal to give the Partenopei a deserved 1-0 win over Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League.

The Italians were the better team for much of the contest and had several great chances to take a lead, but it was local hero Insigne who came through in the final minutes.

Napoli's win sees the Partenopei take the top spot in the group, one point ahead of the Reds and Paris Saint-Germain. Les Parisiens beat Red Star Belgrade earlier in the day.

Reds Need to Make Use of In-Form Sturridge, Shaqiri More Often

Many fans wondered whether Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp would rotate his side heavily with Sunday's match against City in mind, but the tactician kept his front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino intact and made few changes elsewhere.

The three have struggled for stretches this season and never got going against the Partenopei who were the better side for most of the contest. Salah in particular continued his unimpressive form:

Daniel Sturridge and Xherdan Shaqiri have both flashed excellent form early this season, and either or both could have started this match. It would have given them a confidence boost to know they have the trust of the manager in a relatively important match and given one of the regular starters the opportunity to rest up for Sunday. City were in action on Tuesday, giving them an extra day to rest and prepare.

At some point, Klopp will have to recognise Shaqiri and Sturridge are in solid form and some of his regulars are not. The schedule will remain busy for the time being, so he needs to hand the hot duo more chances to start against better teams.

After Keita Injury, Klopp Must Gamble on Fabinho Against Manchester City

Fabinho's full debut for the club against Chelsea was hardly a success, and if everyone were healthy, there would be no reason to consider starting him on Sunday. The Brazilian is still getting used to his new surroundings, and while the process is taking remarkably long, it makes sense to give him time.

But his struggles against the Blues were mostly limited to the attacking end and passing game, and with Keita suffering an injury on Wednesday, Klopp should consider starting Fabinho in his place to take advantage of his defensive prowess.

Jordan Henderson came off the bench at the San Paolo but couldn't win the midfield battle against the talented Partenopei unit. The group the Reds will face on Sunday is even better and designed to thrive on possession and ball retention.

The Reds are going to need someone who can press and chase balls down in a hurry. It's risky turning to Fabinho at this stage, but a risk they have to take.

Ancelotti's Depth Management Has Napoli Trending Up

If there's one thing Napoli fans always held against Maurizio Sarri it was his refusal to dig deep into his bench and rotate his squad. The Chelsea manager seemingly always used the same 14 or 15 players while he was at Napoli, and by the end of the year, that small core was run into the ground.

Carlo Ancelotti has so far used a different approach and was not afraid to leave the likes of Dries Mertens and Piotr Zielinski out of the starting XI for this one. Sportswriter Ian Doyle wondered whether it was a tactic to rely on a late surge:

If it was, it worked. Liverpool's tired defenders struggled to keep up with the mobile Mertens, and Zielinski added to the hosts' dominance in the midfield battle.

The Partenopei lost badly to Juventus over the weekend and the Serie A title race already seems over, but this squad is still trending in the right direction. Wednesday's showing against an in-form Liverpool side was impressive, and Ancelotti's approach has been a major success so far.

What's Next?

Liverpool face Manchester City in a crucial Premier League clash on Sunday. Napoli host Sassuolo in Serie A.