Title on the Line as Top Two Clash in Serie A
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The Italian Serie A is the only remaining league of the big five in Europe which is still to have a title winner decided. On Sunday night, first place Juventus host second place Napoli at the Allianz Stadium in Turin with the title on the line.
Juventus start the match top of the league by 4 points from Napoli and know a win would all but seal the Serie A title. Only Napoli can catch Juventus now and even if they were to take a point from this match, it would maintain their 4-point cushion at the top.
Napoli travel to Turin knowing they really need to win this match if they are to take Serie A this season. Napoli were leading the way for large parts of the campaign but have dropped to second place at the crucial time. Can they produce the level of performance necessary to move within 1 point of the defending champions?
Juventus come into this match having been held to a 1-1 draw at relegation threatened Crotone. Juventus took the lead early in that match but could not prevent the hosts from scoring in what turned out to be a frantic game.
The draw means Juventus are undefeated in their last twenty Serie A games, with their last defeat coming at Sampdoria in November. Trends show Juventus have won each of their last seven home Serie A matches and have conceded just 1 goal in their last nine league games at the Allianz Stadium.
Juventus have scored 2 or more goals in each of their last five home Serie A matches.
Napoli came from behind twice in their mid-week fixture at home against Udinese to eventually win the match 4-2 and keep the pressure on Juventus in the title race.
That was only Napoli’s third win in their last seven Serie A games and they cannot afford any more slip-ups from now until the end of the season, if they are to have any chance of winning the league.
Recent away form has been a problem for Napoli and trends show they have drawn their last three away league games. Two of the matches ended 0-0 in the San Siro against Inter Milan and AC Milan and there was a 1-1 draw at Sassuolo.
However, Napoli remain unbeaten in their last twenty-nine away Serie A games, which is a fantastic record and will want to build on that run with a win from this match. The last team to defeat Napoli on their travels in Italy was Juventus.
Team news and the only player missing for Juventus is Mattia De Sciglio, meaning Stephan Lichtsteiner will start at right-back. Max Allegri will need to decide between a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formation, with Douglas Costa and Paulo Dybala both hoping to start.
Napoli are without injured full-back Faouzi Ghoulam but his is the only absentee for Maurizio Sarri. Arkadiusz Milik and Piotr Zielinski will be hoping to get the nod in this game, having looked fresh and performed well recently.
Napoli have failed to defeat Juventus in their last four attempts in Serie A, losing three and drawing one. It would be a surprise were Juventus to lose this game and we could see a low scoring draw.
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