The big games are coming thick and fast for Juventus, as the Serie A champions welcome Napoli to the Allianz Stadium on Sunday night. The visitors have made a good start to the new season following an awful campaign last time round, but there’s no tougher game in Italian football right now.
Napoli’s victory over Juventus in last season’s cup final followed a home win for each side in the league, with the Azzurri’s 2-1 victory in Naples ending a run of three straight wins for Juve in this fixture. That includes a dramatic 4-3 win for the Bianconeri in last season’s corresponding fixture at the Allianz Stadium, the highest-scoring encounter between these clubs since the same result in 1993.
Considering the goalscoring form these two teams have begun the new season in, we could be in for another entertaining affair this weekend, with both teams scoring in seven of the last eight Serie A meetings between these two teams.
The Old Lady have started their latest title defence with a 3-0 victory over Sampdoria, before a gutsy 2-2 away to Roma. The players seem a lot happier under Andrea Pirlo than Maurizio Sarri, and that bodes well for the weeks and months ahead for Sunday’s hosts.
Napoli’s start to the new campaign bodes well too, with Pirlo’s former teammate and fellow World Cup winner Gennaro Gattuso guiding his team to two wins from two. The Azzurri secured a 2-0 win away to Parma in their opening match, before a resounding 6-0 demolition of Genoa on Sunday.
After finishing seventh and out of the European places last term, the omens seem to favour Napoli this term, but perhaps aren’t so good for this game in particular though, as it’s a tough ask for Napoli, but Gattuso does have a fully-fit squad available, aside from Lorenzo Insigne who’s a doubt.
Pirlo, meanwhile, will be without the suspended Adrien Rabiot, as well as injured duo trio Matthijs de Ligt, Alex Sandro and Federico Bernardeschi, although the latter is nearly ready to play.
Of course, Juventus possess the mercurial Cristiano Ronaldo who has netted three goals in his first two matches of this new Serie A season and still remains the major threat in the final third for The Old Lady.
Goals could well feature this Sunday but Juventus get the nod for the points here.