Napoli plays host to Juventus on Saturday evening at the San Paolo, after both teams found themselves facing mid-week embarrassment with draws to Carpi and Frosinone respectively. Will the atmosphere of the Neapolitan crowd be enough to inspire Sarri’s men to rediscover their form that had them storm to two consecutive 5-0 victories in the past two weeks? Or will Juventus’ famous winning mentality prove to have been reawakened by the nasty shock of their rough start to the season?
Napoli
New manager Maurizio Sarri expected a transitional period as he took over the team that had last season belonged to Rafa Benitez, and the first few games of the season were duly chaotic. “I’m seeing bits and pieces of my way of playing,” he insisted, “but we lack consistency.”
Something slammed into place last week in the Europa League, as Sarri tinkered with his formation a bit to field a 4-3-3, with the result being a stunning 5-0 win over Club Brugge. The exact same scoreline, incredibly, was repeated just days later in Serie A against Lazio. Ten goals scored and zero conceded. This week’s frustrating draw to Carpi was certainly a setback, but on the bright side for Partenopei fans – a clean sheet was still kept.
Tricky attacking winger Lorenzo Insigne is likely to start, building on his strong form in the past few games, as is midfielder Allan. Jorginho and Marek Hamsik will round out a full-strength midfield, with Sarri favorite Mirko Valdifiori starting from the bench after two disappointing performances in the league.
Probable starting lineup (4-3-3): Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Higuain, Insigne.
Juventus
It has been a very bad few weeks to be Max Allegri. Greeted with skepticism and protests by the Bianconeri faithful when he abruptly took over from Antonio Conte last July, the manager eventually won the trust and support of the fans as he guided the team to realize their full potential in winning a fourth straight Scudetto, a Coppa Italia, and reaching the final of the Champions League.
Now, after the substantial dismantling of that team’s roster by a revolution in the transfer market and a season that has begun with two losses, two draws and only one win in the league, the criticism and impatience is reaching a crucial level. Various newspapers and outlets in Italy have reported tension between Allegri and president Andrea Agnelli, senior team members have supposedly been called to crisis meetings, and rumors have been floating around Turin that Juventus have made just-in-case inquiries into the availability of Jurgen Klopp.
Juventus fans are, it’s true, of a notoriously black-and-white disposition, prone to swinging between ecstatic joy and world-ending despair at the tip of a scoreline, but five games into the season and already ten points behind current league leaders Inter is a reasonable time for alarm bells to begin sounding. Many commentators and pundits have spoken of this game as an absolute must-win if Juve intend to work their way back into the Scudetto race this year; Sandro Mazzola went so far as to say that anything other than a Juventus victory would be “a catastrophe.” The current injury situation is not helping matters – Alvaro Morata looks set to make an early return from a muscular problem but Sami Khedira, Claudio Marchisio, Kwadwo Asamoah and Mario Mandzukic are all sidelined with similar issues and Stephan Lichtsteiner will miss out on the match due to respiratory difficulties. If ever there was a time that Juventus needed to reach down into their collective souls and pull out their famous fino alla fine mentality, this would be it.
Probable starting formation (4-3-3): Buffon; Padoin, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Sturaro, Hernanes, Pogba; Cuadrado, Dybala, Morata.
Prediction: The support of the home crowd will work in Napoli’s favor, as will the increasing confidence of a team that already was accustomed to playing with each other and is now becoming collectively used to a new coach’s method. The disappointing results of mid-week will be a psychological blow to both teams, but Napoli look the slightly more likely to overcome it with their current team cohesion and eye for goal. Victory to the Partenopei and real alarm in Juventus headquarters.
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