Juventus will be aiming to return to winning ways in Serie A when they square off with Napoli at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday.
The visitors, meanwhile, will look to grab a rare league double over the Bianconeri after securing a 1-0 home win in February’s reverse fixture.
Juventus have now gone two games without a win after their shock loss to Benevento was followed by a 2-2 draw against Torino on Saturday.
Antonio Sanabria scored in both halves to cancel out Federico Chiesa’s opener and give Toro a 2-1 lead. However, a 79th-minute strike from Cristiano Ronaldo restored parity for the Old Lady.
Juventus have now dropped to fourth in the Serie A table, 12 points behind league leaders Inter Milan. A defeat on Wednesday could see them slip into the Europa League spots.
Napoli continued their excellent run in Serie A after claiming a hard-fought victory over struggling Crotone last time out.
In a seven-goal thriller at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, Lorenzo Insigne, Victor Osimhen, Dries Mertens and Giovanni Di Lorenzo all hit the target. Those goals helped Napoli secure a 4-3 win over Serse Cosmi’s men.
Napoli have now picked up 15 points from their last 18, and this has seen them surge into fifth place in the log, only behind Juventus on goal difference.
Juventus vs Napoli Head-To-Head
Juventus versus Napoli is one of the most heated fixtures in Serie A due to the historical regional rivalry between Northern Italy (Turin) and Southern Italy (Naples).
The hosts have been the better side in the history of this fixture, picking up 20 wins in their last 40 meetings. Napoli, meanwhile, have secured 12 wins, while it has ended all square on nine occasions.
Juventus Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-W-L-D
Napoli Form Guide (all competitions): D-W-W-W-W
Juventus vs Napoli Team New
Juventus
Merih Demiral and Leonardo Bonucci will sit out this clash, as both defenders are in isolation, having tested positive for COVID-19.
Weston McKennie, Paulo Dybala and Arthur are all expected to return to the fold, having served their suspensions after breaking COVID-19 guidelines.
Injured: None
COVID-19: Merih Demiral, Leonardo Bonucci
Napoli
Napoli will be without goalkeeper David Ospina, Amir Rrahmani and Faouzi Ghoulam, who are all on the treatment table.
Other than that, Gennaro Gattuso has a fully-fit squad to pick from and we expect the 43-year-old to name his strongest starting XI.
Injured: David Ospina, Amir Rrahmani, Faouzi Ghoulam
Suspended: None
Juventus vs Napoli Predicted XI
Juventus Predicted XI (3-5-2): Wojciech Szczesny (GK); Danilo, Matthijs De Ligt, Giorgio Chiellini; Federico Chiesa, Weston McKennie, Adrien Rabiot, Arthur Melo, Paulo Dybala; Alvaro Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo
Napoli Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Alex Meret (GK); Elseid Hysaj, Kalidou Koulibaly, Konstantinos Manolas, Mario Rui; Diego Demme, Fabian Ruiz; Matteo Politano, Piotr Zielinski, Lorenzo Insigne; Dries Mertens
Juventus vs Napoli prediction
Napoli have come into this crunch contest in sky-high form and will take on a Juventus side who are boosted by the return of a few key players.
With the sides level on points in the table, this promises to be a nail-biting encounter. We predict a share of the spoils with both teams grabbing two goals apiece.
Prediction: Juventus 2-2 Napoli