Juventus
Napoli
07 April 2021
17:45 UK/ 18:45 CET
Serie A
Allianz Stadium
Juventus will be looking to keep their Scudetto hopes alive when they welcome Genoa at their Allianz Stadium on Matchday 30.
The Bianconeri are eager to melt Inter’s advantage in the Serie A standings, and they face yet another must-win game against Genoa.
All Bernardeschi, Bonucci, and Demiral have been tested positive for coronavirus, and the trio is unlikely to feature in Sunday’s clash.
As always, a man to watch in the home team will be Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the equalizer in the 2-2 draw with Torino in the Turin derby.
The Rossoblu, on the other hand, are stuck in the middle of the standings, meaning that they have little to play for in the season finale. Strootman is banned for the visitors, while Pellegrini is out of contention with injury.
Anyhow, the hosts want this win more than the visitors, and we predict that Andrea Pirlo’s men will pick up all three points from the match.
Juventus vs Napoli Head-to-head
Teams Juventus Napoli played so far 41 matches.
Juventus won 20 direct matches. Napoli won 12 matches. 9 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 2.98 goals per Match.
Juventus vs Napoli Prediction
Juventus in actual season average scored 2.10 goals per match. In 19 (90.48%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 13 (61.90%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Napoli average scored 2.02 goals per match in season 2021. In 15 (78.95%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 10 (52.63%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Central defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Merih Demiral - who both tested positive for COVID-19 during the international period - are still unavailable for Juventus, so Matthijs de Ligt and Giorgio Chiellini should continue at the heart of the hosts' back four.
Miscreant trio Weston McKennie, Paulo Dybala and Arthur were omitted from the squad for the Turin Derby after involvement in a party at the American midfielder's home last week, but have been reintegrated ahead of this Wednesday's potentially pivotal game. Coach Andrea Pirlo made the pragmatic decision to welcome them back into the squad on Monday.
Versatile Brazil international Danilo started in midfield against Torino, but either McKennie or Aaron Ramsey could be preferred to partner Rodrigo Bentancur versus Napoli.
After his costly error at the weekend, Dejan Kulusevski could return to the bench, with Federico Bernardeschi among those pushing for a start out wide.
Visitors Napoli now have an almost full-strength squad, after an injury crisis contributed to their exit from the Europa League in February, so Gennaro Gattuso has some attacking selection dilemmas to resolve.
Though Victor Osimhen has started to impress - and, crucially, find the net - the former Lille front man faces competition from Dries Mertens for the centre-forward's spot if Gattuso decides to bring in Piotr Zielinski back into the side. The talented midfielder had been a doubt to face Crotone after a COVID-19 outbreak in the Poland squad, but he was given the all-clear to take a seat on the bench, with Mertens dropping into his deeper creative role.
Gattuso could even be tempted to introduce Mexican winger Hirving Lozano from the start, given his ability to shred opposition defences with his pace, though Matteo Politano has impressed in recent weeks.
Fortunately for the Azzurri, defensive mainstay Kalidou Koulibaly returns from suspension, so should replace error-prone Nikola Maksimovic alongside Kostas Manolas at the back.
Meanwhile, full-back Faouzi Ghoulam remains injured and David Ospina fractured his finger in training last week, so Alex Meret is likely to continue in goal, even though both Ospina and midfielder Diego Demme returned to training this week.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Chiellini, Sandro; McKennie, Rabiot, Bentancur, Chiesa; Ronaldo, Morata
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Rui; Bakayoko, Ruiz; Politano, Zielinski, Insigne; Mertens