Overview
Reigning Serie A champions Napoli seem to have regained strength after a period of decline due to personnel changes and the impact of injuries.
Having struggled to maintain the form of a team that had just won the Scudetto, Partenopei has now returned strongly with a series of 4 consecutive wins in all competitions. After overcoming Atalanta and Qarabag, Napoli continued to defeat Roma in the Derby del Sole last week, where David Neres' beautiful shot helped them equal the score with AC Milan in the leading group of Serie A.
In midweek, Napoli advanced to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals after drawing with Cagliari for 120 minutes, before winning on penalties thanks to the brilliance of Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, who both blocked and directly shot successfully.
As a group of 7 teams only a few points apart in the championship race, Napoli is preparing to enter the final home match of 2025 with the goal of extending Maradona's unbeaten streak.
Since the most recent defeat here in Serie A a year ago, they have had 15 wins and 5 draws. If they do not lose to Juventus, Napoli will end a calendar year unbeaten at home in the top league - an achievement they last achieved in 1987.
This match also has a special meaning for coach Antonio Conte, who played for Juventus from 1991 to 2004 before leading the team to three consecutive Scudetti victories.
Juventus have lost 7 of their 11 Serie A confrontations with Napoli since 2020 and are currently 5 points behind this opponent in the rankings.
Adding the appeal to this big match, Luciano Spalletti will have the opportunity to reunite with his former team for the first time since leaving Napoli after the historic 2022-2023 season.
The new captain of the Bianconeri is still unbeaten with 4 wins and 3 draws. Juventus entered this match after a series of 3 consecutive wins in three arenas, including overcoming Udinese in midweek.
Similar to Napoli, Juventus also won a ticket to the quarter-finals of Coppa Italia. They have previously beaten Bodo/Glimt in Europe and Cagliari in Serie A, showing that the chaos inherited by Spalletti is gradually being controlled and stabilized.
Although still chasing the group to participate in the European Cup, Juventus' confidence can increase sharply in the final stages of a turbulent year. A convincing win over Napoli could even bring them back into the Scudetto race.
Personnel situation
With his injury list still long, Conte took a number of key players off in the midweek match. However, names like Scott McTominay and Alessandro Buongiorno will return to the squad this weekend.
On the other hand, Stanislav lobotka continues to be absent, along with midfielders Kevin De Bruyne, Frank Anguissa and Billy Gilmour. The trio of Alex Meret, Romelu Lukaku and Miguel Gutierrez are also unable to participate due to injury.
On Juventus's side, Spalletti also made some adjustments at Coppa Italia, including bringing number one goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio back to the goal. However, he is still missing a series of key centre-backs such as Federico Gatti, Bremer and Daniele Rugani, who are almost certain to be unable to play.
Once again, the one expected to make the difference for the Bianconeri will be Kenan Yildiz. However, it should be noted that all 7 of his goals in Serie A this season have been scored at home.
Expected lineup:
Napoli: Milinkovic-Savic, Beukema, Rrahmani, Buongiorno, Di Lorenzo, Elmas, McTominay, Olivera, Neres, Lang, Hojlund.
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Kalulu, Kelly, Koopmeiners, changeaso, Locatelli, Thuram, Kostic, Conceicao, Yildiz, David.
The match between Napoli and Juventus takes place at 2:45 am on December 8 (Vietnam time).
