Juventus vs Napoli
Napoli’s Serie A title defence is up for another major roadblock, as they will visit Turin this Friday evening to take on a resurgent Juventus squad.
After a bright start to the 2023-24 campaign, the Partenopei have had a mixed bag of Serie A 2023 results, so they have fallen to fifth place with 24 points.
They eventually brought back Walter Mazzarri as their head coach, but as is often the case with new managers (although this is his second stint at Naples), Napoli are expected to have some growing pains.
While Napoli look out of the Scudetto race, the same can’t be said for Juventus, who are mounting a significant challenge against Inter Milan. A win against Napoli would see them back at the top, especially if the Nerazzurri somehow lose to Udinese on Saturday.
Talking Points
Rabiot becoming undroppable at Juventus
Juventus are pulling out all the stops in order to keep Adrien Rabiot in their ranks for as long as possible, and it’s not difficult to see why.
Adrien Rabiot is currently the team’s third-leading scorer so far this season with two goals, and he also has three assists.
The Frenchman put in a Man of the Match-type performance against Monza last time out since he had a hand in their two goals en route to a 2-1 victory.
He managed to score the first goal of the game with a bullet header from a corner kick. And after Monza drew level during added time, courtesy of Valentin Carboni, Rabiot created the winning goal by teeing up Federico Gatti with a perfect ball for the win.
Juventus are running the risk of losing Rabiot soon, as the 28-year-old is currently on an expiring deal, and rival clubs are monitoring his situation closely.
Max Allegri and co. are looking to give him a new extension valid for at least three seasons as soon as possible since he has been a pillar in their midfield.
No time to waste for Osimhen
Walter Mazzarri’s first task upon returning to Naples was to mend the club’s relationship with their star striker Victor Osimhen, who, despite all the brouhaha, is still their joint-leading scorer alongside Matteo Politano, with six goals thus far.
Osimhen has been rotated in and out of the starting XI lately in an attempt to manage his workload. However, the Partenopei haven’t had the immediate returns that they expected of him.
The Nigerian hitman hasn’t found the back of the net since the first week of October, when he scored the consolation goal in their 3-1 defeat to Fiorentina. Luckily for Napoli, his teammates have picked up the scoring slack.
But this worrying trend cannot go on if Napoli are going to compete for silverware this year, and it doesn’t help that rival clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, and Real Madrid are sniffing around just in case Osimhen somehow becomes available in the January transfer window.
Like Adrien Rabiot, Victor Osimhen is also on an expiring deal, although Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis keeps on reiterating that the 24-year-old is “close” to signing a new deal with them.
History
Napoli managed to beat Juventus twice last season with an aggregate tally of 6-1. In their two Serie A meetings this year, the Partenopei recorded a 5-1 win at home in January and a 1-0 road victory in April.
As a result, the Partenopei have completed a league double over the Bianconeri for the fourth time ever, with the previous ones being in 2009-10, 1986-87, and 1957-58.
Juventus are undefeated in 11 of their last 13 home matches against Napoli in Serie A (W9, D2), although they have only won just two of their last seven league matches against Napoli (D1, L4).
In terms of recent form, Juventus have the edge because they haven’t lost a single game in their last five (W4, D1), while Napoli have drawn once before alternating wins and losses in the same period.
Betting Tip
The SBOTOP Serie A 2023 odds expect a close fight between Juventus and Napoli, despite their considerable gap in the standings. The hosts were given the slight edge at 2.34, while the visitors weren’t far behind at 2.81, and a draw is at 3.14 odds in the 1X2 market.While the Old Lady is likely to win this weekend, we anticipate the Partenopei to show a sense of urgency in order to keep their flickering Scudetto hopes alive, and we’re confident that this is going to be another low-scoring affair.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT))
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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