Napoli vs Juventus Preview

February 12, 2021
By: Daniel Orme

Juventus will be attempting to further cut the gap at the top of the Serie A table on Saturday as they travel to the newly-named Diego Armando Maradona Stadium to face Napoli.

The Old Lady come into the game having won six out of the last seven Serie A matches, something that has seen the team propel themselves back into title contention. They still sit seven points off of the top, albeit with a game in hand, so victory against Napoli could go a long way in Juve re-establishing themselves at the top. However, the Naples outfit have their own targets this season, being just three points off the top four.

The hosts then will be aiming to get back to winning ways having had a slight stumble in recent weeks. They have not won in three matches in all competitions, losing two out of their last three in the league following the defeat to Genoa just under a week ago. Gennaro Gattuso’s men are not much fancied to succeed this weekend though at odds of 3/1 with Betfair. Juventus are the favourites at a price of 19/20, with a draw sitting some way behind at 13/5.

One advantage that the hosts possess is their goalscoring form at home. The Partenopei have already scored 27 goals on home soil in the league this season which accounts for just over 60% of their total league goals. Having netted at a rate of 2.7 goals per game at home so far, over 3.5 goals to be scored in this particular tie could be a tempting bet at a price of 2/1 with William Hill.

Of course, the attacking talents of both teams would hugely help in this coming to fruition. Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo sits on his own at the top of the scoring charts with 16 goals from 17 games and can be backed at 13/5 with Paddy Power to net the opening goal of the game. Meanwhile, Hirving Lozano has exploded into life at Napoli. Despite not being the favourite to net first from the hosts’ perspective, he is still good value at 7/1.

One aspect that could certainly hamper the hosts this weekend is their lengthy injury list. Defenders Kalidou Koulibaly and Faouzi Ghoulam are continuing their recoveries from COVID-19, and are joined on the sidelines by fellow defenders Kostas Manolas and Elseid Hysaj. Elsewhere, Dries Mertens and Diego Damme are both ruled out.

There is better news for Juventus, with Paulo Dybala now available again and could be afforded a place on the bench. Aaron Ramsey could also be named in the matchday squad once again having missed the last three matches in all competitions. Arthur and Leonardo Bonucci are ruled out however.

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