A mouth-watering Serie A top-table six-pointer pits runaway leaders Napoli and record-time champions Juventus against each other on Friday night.
With seven points separating the sides ahead of the kick-off, the Partenopei could put their Scudetto bid beyond doubt with a victory at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Luciano Spalletti’s side had an unpleasant return to Serie A action in 2023 as Edin Dzeko’s second-half strike fired Inter Milan to a narrow 1-0 triumph at Giuseppe Meazza.
However, Napoli almost instantaneously got back on the rails, with Victor Osimhen and Elif Elmas handing them a comfortable 2-0 win at relegation-threatened Sampdoria last weekend.
And while their hosts delivered a mixed bag of performances on the back of the Serie A resumption, Juventus have been the embodiment of consistency in the past few months.
Danilo’s last-gasp winner catapulted the Bianconeri to a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over Udinese, stretching their winning league streak to eight matches without conceding.
In doing so, Massimiliano Allegri’s men have leapfrogged defending champions AC Milan into second, re-establishing themselves as one of the most formidable opponents in Serie A.
Despite failing to make it out of the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2013/14, the Turin-based heavyweights could solidify their Scudetto case in southern Italy this Friday.
Match Preview
Napoli
Napoli went unbeaten in both last season’s Serie A meetings with Juventus (W1, D1), including a come-from-behind 2-1 victory in this corresponding fixture, and could make it three in a row without losing against the Bianconer in the competition for the first time since 2011.
Spalletti would be forgiven for expecting his side to avoid defeat at the very least, safe in the knowledge the Partenopei have won their last three home league matches against Juventus by a single-goal margin.
With sought-after forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia experiencing a dip in form, all eyes will be on current Serie A top-scorer Osimhen, who has tallied ten league goals.
Juventus
Juventus may not be accustomed to lagging behind in the Scudetto race.
However, they’ve been comfortable playing against the pacesetters, as witnessed by an impressive run of eight unbeaten matches against sides starting the matchday at the top of the table (W6, D2).
Although Allegri’s men have hit a purple patch following a troublesome top-flight start, away goals have been hard to come by, with the Bianconeri averaging only 0.62 goals per game across eight Serie A travels this term.
Federico Chiesa’s return to the fold could change the narrative, with the Italian winger recording his last Serie A goal against non-other than Napoli back in January 2022 before suffering a long-term knee injury.
Napoli vs Juventus Potential Line-ups
Napoli (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Kim Min-jae, Juan Jesus, Mario Rui; Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Piotr Zielinski; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Matteo Politano, Victor Osimhen.
Juventus (3-5-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Danilo, Gleison Bremer, Alex Sandro; Filip Kostic, Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot, Weston McKennie, Federico Chiesa; Angel Di Maria, Arkadiusz Milik.
How to Watch?
Napoli vs Juventus, alongside all other Serie A fixtures, is available to watch online via Serie A live streams.
Napoli vs Juventus Prediction
Given the importance of this fixture, it’s fair to assume neither manager would want to give too much away from the get-go, which could lead to an uneventful, low-scoring contest.
Unfortunately for Napoli, Juventus have proved themselves more than capable of thriving in such circumstances, as witnessed by the visitors’ run of four consecutive 1-0 league wins on the road.
However, the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona has been an unbreachable fortress this season, as only one Serie A team have walked away from Naples unbeaten in 2022/23 (W7, D1).
As such, we expect a draw.
Napoli 1-1 Juventus
