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Juventus travel to the San Paolo Stadium to take on Napoli in a highly-anticipated Serie A clash on Sunday night. The encounter marks Maurizio Sarri's first return to the Naples-based club since they sacked him in 2018 and the Italian tactician will find them in the midst of a trying crisis under their president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
The Bianconeri are currently four points clear of Inter Milan at the top of the league table while Napoli are languishing at 11th place as they continue to struggle under the management of Gennaro Gattuso.
The 42-year-old manager has lost four of his seven matches at the helm which includes their 2-0 home defeat to Fiorentina last weekend. However, the side did manage to progress in the Coppa Italia after establishing a 1-0 win over Lazio at home on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Juventus are in the midst of a winning streak, having won five consecutive games in all competitions, including a 3-1 win over AS Roma in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday night.
The Serie A leaders will look to maintain their lead over a resurgent Inter Milan by securing all three points against Napoli while the hosts will hope to turn their fortunes around starting with a massive upset against the reigning champions.
Napoli vs Juventus Head-to-Head
Juventus unpredictably have the advantage heading into the encounter on Sunday as Napoli have only won one of their last eight games against the Old Lady, drawing one and losing the other six. Their last three games against the Turin giants have all ended in favour of the opponents, with their latest game against the league leaders ending in a 4-3 defeat.
Napoli form guide: W-L-L-W-L-W
Juventus form guide: L-W-W-W-W-W
Napoli vs Juventus Team News
To add to their existing problems, Napoli have a series of injuries to grapple with ahead of the Juventus clash. The likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Faouzi Ghoulam, and Dries Mertens have all been ruled out of action and are likely to miss the game. Nikola Maksimovic could make his return after recovering from a hamstring problem but Giovanni Di Lorenzo might make the cut if Gattuso decides to rest the Serbian.
Injuries: Kevin Malcuit, Faouzi Ghoulam, Kalidou Koulibaly, Allan, Dries Mertens
Doubtful: Nikola Maksimovic
Meanwhile, Juventus will remain without the services of Giorgio Chiellini and Mattia De Sciglio, with the likes of Danilo and Sami Khedira also unavailable due to injury.
Injuries: Giorgio Chiellini, Merih Demiral, Sami Khedira, Danilo, Mattia De Sciglio
Napoli vs Juventus Predicted XI
Napoli Predicted XI (4-3-3): David Ospina; Hysaj, Manolas, Di Lorenzo, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Demme, Zielinski; Callejon, Milik, Insigne
Juventus Predicted XI (4-3-1-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Juan Cuadrado, Matthijs de Ligt, Leonardo Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Rodrigo Bentancur, Miralem Pjanic, Adrien Rabiot; Aaron Ramsey; Paulo Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo
Napoli vs Juventus Prediction
Juventus are overwhelming favourites to win Sunday's encounter considering Napoli's current form and the wealth of attacking options that Maurizio Sarri possesses. Cristiano Ronaldo has found the net in the last seven games and the possibility of him scoring at Naples cannot be ignored. Injuries to Dries Mertens and Kalidou Koulibaly makes matters worse for the Azzurri and it would be surprising to see them get away with a point from the clash.
Verdict: Napoli 1-3 Juventus
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