Napoli – Juventus: Lineups and Prediction
Napoli meets perennial rivals Juventus in the Serie A tonight from the position of leader of the league. A victory would cement the team’s place at the top. But is this realistic?
Starting Line-ups
Both managers, Antonio Conte and Thiago Motta, have opted to use their best players for this fixture. Napoli, in particular, is suffering through a shortage of first-team players brought on by injuries and transfers. However, Conte is resting no important player for this confrontation against his former team.
The only surprise to this Juventus side is the use of former PSG striker Kolo Muani, who has just arrived at the club this week.
The starting line-ups are:
Napoli Starting XI
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Jesus, Spinazzola; Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay, Politano, Neres, Lukaku
Juventus StartingXI
Di Gregorio; McKennie, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Yildiz, Koopmeiners, Gonzalez; Kolo Muani
Napoli Are Favourites to Win
Yes, it is true that Napoli often lived in the shadow of Juventus. Calciopoli-created cynicism aside, most of the clubs in Italy have looked in recent years at Juve as the standard for success.
But things have changed. It’s especially due to a spectacular winning run by Napoli. In spite of the aforementioned injuries, Antonio Conte’s team can’t seem to lose right now. This is a hard-working, well-drilled team.
The absence of Kvicha Kavaratskhelia has not yet had an impact. While the Georgian has shone in the light blue jersey, his transfer to PSG has not yet had a negative effect.
Besides giving David Neres and Matteo Politano a greater chance to shine, Napoli is working on finding a replacement for Kavaratskhelia. Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho, Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi or Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez are being discussed as replacements.
And while Thiago Motta has been brave about promoting younger players to this Juventus side, this is a long-term project. Juve has struggled against tougher opponents like AC Milan and Napoli.
I predict that the same will happen against Napoli. The Partenopei are favourites, and I see them winning by a small margin. Let’s call it at 1-0.
Still, a draw would also favour Napoli, who, as leaders of the league, might only need to see out their major rivals (Juventus, Inter, Atalanta) and win against lower-tier opposition to secure the Scudetto once more.