Napoli vs Juventus prediction, preview, team news and more | Serie A 2020-21
Napoli host Juventus in Serie A on Saturday as the pressure builds on Gennaro Gattuso in the Napoli hot-seat after their defeat against Atalanta in the Coppa Italia.
Napoli are on a two-game losing streak, and tensions are high between Gattuso and club president Aurelio de Laurentiis. The eccentric owner is said to be on the hunt for a new coach.
Napoli currently sit sixth in Serie A, a win away from the top four.
Andrea Pirlo's side have been in great form of late. Juventus are unbeaten in their last seven games across all competitions, winning six of them.
The Bianconeri go into this fixture third in Serie A, seven points behind league leaders AC Milan with a game in hand.
This clash could truly be a make-or-break for Gattuso, and a loss against Juventus on Saturday might finally seal his fate.
Napoli vs Juventus Head-to-Head
Juventus just edge the head-to-head record in Serie A between the two sides, having won three of the last five meetings, with Napoli winning the other two.
Andrea Pirlo's side have already registered a win over Napoli this season in the Italian Super Cup.
However, their reverse fixture was called off earlier in the season after Napoli failed to report to Turin due to cases of coronavirus detected in the squad.
Napoli Form Guide: W-W-D-L-L
Juventus Form Guide: W-W-W-W-D
Napoli vs Juventus Head-to-Head
Napoli
Gattuso could be without a plethora of starters heading into the game. Elseid Hysaj and Diego Demme were injured earlier this week and are expected to miss the game. Kalidou Koulibaly and Faouzi Ghoulam contracted coronavirus earlier this month and will not be involved either.
Kostas Manolas and Dries Mertens will also miss the game with ankle injuries, in what would be a huge blow to Napoli.
Injured: Dries Mertens, Kostas Manolas, Elseid Hysaj, Diego Demme, Kalidou Koulibaly, Faouzi Ghoulam
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Juventus
Andrea Pirlo could welcome back Paulo Dybala from injury, although the Argentine probably won't play a big role in the match on Saturday. Arthur won't be in the squad after missing out on Juventus' semi-final clash against Inter Milan due to a fever. The Brazilian has picked up an injury and will be out of the game
Aaron Ramsey is a doubt for the game as it is still unknown if the Welsh midfielder has recovered from his muscle injury. Ramsey has missed the last three games for Juventus. Meanwhile, Leonardo Bonucci is set to be rested for the game due to muscular issues.
Injured: Arthur, Leonardo Bonucci
Doubtful: Paulo Dybala, Aaron Ramsey
Suspended: None
Napoli vs Juventus Predicted XI
Napoli Predicted XI (4-3-3): David Ospina; Mario Rui, Nikola Maksimovic, Amir Rrahmani, Giovani Di Lorenzo; Piotr Zielinski, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Fabian Ruiz; Lorenzo Insigne, Hirving Lozano, Victor Osimhen
Juventus Predicted XI (4-4-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Alex Sandro, Matthijs de Ligt, Merih Demiral, Danilo; Federico Chiesa, Adrien Rabiot, Weston McKennie, Juan Cuadrado; Dejan Kulusevski, Cristiano Ronaldo
Napoli vs Juventus Prediction
It is always exciting when these two sides clash, and Saturday will be no different. However, Juventus have looked unbeatable recently and should have enough to get past Napoli.
We expect a tight match, but Juventus to come out on top.
Prediction: Napoli 1-2 Juventus