Serie A league leaders Juventus head south on Sunday to play archrivals Napoli at the San Paolo. The Bianconeri are four points up on Inter Milan and will hope to continue their great form at the weekend.
Juventus have won five straight Serie A matches while the Nerazzurri have slipped up. Napoli won’t be an easy fixture, at least on paper, as the home side always give Juventus a strong game.
However, Gennaro Gattuso has failed to turn Napoli around after taking over the team from Carlo Ancelotti. Napoli are winless in five of their last six games in Serie A with the last three all ending in losses.
Napoli are 11th in Serie A with 24 points from 60 possible. The good news is the Partenopei are nine points above the relegation zone. The teams in Serie A’s bottom three are really poor and it is unlikely Napoli will face a relegation fight.
Juventus and Napoli met in August in Serie A with the former picking up a 4-3 win. It was a dramatic game between the two sides as Napoli came back from three goals down to level the game. However, centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly scored a 90th-minute own goal to give Juventus all three points.
The Bianconeri have won the last three matches against Napoli in Serie A. All three games saw over 2.5 goals scored and Sunday’s game should once again see the two rivals combine for more than 2.5 scores.
Gattuso has two key players set to miss the match for Napoli. Forward Dries Mertens and defender Koulibaly will sit out the game. Kevin Malcuit is also injured and set to miss the match, while full-back Faouzi Ghoulam is doubtful due to his own injury problems.
Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri has his own injury problems to deal with as full-back Alex Sandro, centre-back Merih Demiral, midfielder Sami Khedira, and centre-back Giorgio Chiellini are injured and set to miss out. Full-back Mattia De Sciglio could return just in time to feature for the Bianconeri.
The Turin club could sell Emre Can this month as the midfielder is surplus to requirements. He is now linked with an €18 million move to Borussia Dortmund.
It goes without saying that forward Cristiano Ronaldo is Juventus’ dangerman. Ronaldo has tallied 16 goals in 17 Serie A matches. Ronaldo has scored a goal in each of his last seven Serie A matches.
Juventus should continue winning and keep a clean sheet away versus a poor Napoli team. Expect over 2.5 goals as Ronaldo leads Juventus to another win in the league.
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