Juvenuts vs Napoli

Allianz Stadium is the venue as Juventus and Napoli go head-to-head in a mouth-watering Serie A encounter, with the hosts seeking revenge for a dismal 2-1 loss in the reverse fixture.

Juventus have gone from strength to strength since falling to a 1-0 home defeat to Atalanta in late November, racking up four victories from five subsequent Serie A matches (D1), all of which came by the same 2-0 scoreline. Juve’s noticeable upturn in form presents them with realistic chances of landing a coveted top-four finish as they enter the new calendar year just four points adrift of fourth-placed Atalanta. Though Napoli’s visit to Turin appears as a formidable challenge on paper, the H2H stakes at the Allianz Stadium speak volumes. Since venturing to the new host venue in 2011, ‘I Bianconeri’ have won nine of their ten top-flight H2Hs here, except for a narrow 1-0 loss in April 2018. By contrast, Juventus’ lack of consistency at home has seen them win just three of their last five league games here (L2).

In the meantime, the Christmas break came at the best possible moment for Napoli, who were amid a rough patch, losing three of their final four Serie A fixtures down the final stretch of 2021 (W1). The visitors’ dreadful run of form has seen them fall seven points behind pacesetters Inter Milan despite leading the way for most of the first half of the season, courtesy of a 12-game unbeaten start (W10, D2). Moreover, a hard-fought 1-0 victory at AC Milan in their last Serie A road trip marked Napoli’s first competitive clean sheet away from home in five matches, with ‘I Partenopei’ conceding an average of 2.0 goals per game across their previous four travels. With plenty of his first-team stars ruled out for selection due to various reasons, head coach Luciano Spalletti will have to come up with something special to complete his side’s first top-flight double over Juve for the first time this century.