Matches of the Week: Napoli vs. Juventus - a podcast by noreply@blogger.com (The Hat Trick)
from 2017-12-01T18:58
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This week in Serie A, we have the six time defending champions Juventus up against their biggest title challengers over the past few seasons in Napoli. Napoli will be looking to get a firm grip on the top spot in Serie A once and for all. At the moment, Napoli are four points ahead of Juventus in the table. The Stadio San Paolo will be absolutely packed on Friday, and if Napoli are able to win in front of their home faithful and be eight points ahead of Juve, it's going to be very hard to argue that the Partenopei don't deserve their first Scudetto since 1990.
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| Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain battling for the ball against Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly |
Juventus:
Juventus are coming off a 3-0 over lowly Crotone. However, there were many positives to take away from that game. Benedikt Höwedes at long last made his debut against Crotone and played exceptionally well. He had great awareness throughout the whole game and looked like his reliable and consistent self. The other positive was that long time club servant Claudio Marchisio came back from injury and was outstanding in the midfield paired along side Blaise Matuidi. Marchisio is always fighting to keep possession andprovide clever balls. Miralem Pjanić will be coming back from injury and hopefully provide an extra spark in the midfield. Douglas Costa and Juan Cuadrado on the wings will be looking to provide the perfect balls for Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain.
FORMATION:
Juventus have a plethora of formations this season, but for this upcoming game, we believe they'll go with a 3-4-2-1. Buffon will likely be in net, with Italian compatriots Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli and Daniele Rugani playing in front of him. Medhi Benatia will also likely feature at the back. Alex Sandro and Mattia De Sciglio will be featured as two wing-backs. Miralem Pjanić and Blaise Matuidi will be paired up in the midfield with Pjanić being the creative and distributing midfielder where as Matuidi will be playing right in front of the defense, being the typical box-to-box midfielder with the most stamina to help in late-game scenarios. Douglas Costa and Paulo Dybala will be slotted in as the outside forwards with Gonzalo Higuain as the main target man.
POTENTIAL MAN OF THE MATCH:
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| Gonzalo Higuain |
Napoli:
The current table toppers in Serie A have been nothing short of astonishing this season, despite their subsequent struggles in the Champions League. This Napoli team are much different compared to previous elite Series A clubs in terms of their style of play. They're really reliant on the attack compared to other clubs who have been really lenient on their defense. While Kalidou Koulibaly is the heart of the defense and one of the best defenders in all of Europe, he can't do everything at the back. However, Koulibaly won't have to do much as Napoli will dominate the midfield and with that dominance in the midfield, their front three will be able to cause damage to the aging Juventus backline.
FORMATION:
Napoli will likely roll with their usual 4-3-3. There will be no drastic changes to the starting lineup. Pepe Reina will be the man between the sticks with the backline of Faouzi Ghoulam, Raul Alibiol, Kalidou Koulibaly and Elseid Hysaj. In the midfield, Allan will start ahead of the young Polish rising star, Piotr Zieliński. Allan will be alongside Jorginho and Napoli's all time appearance leader, Marek Hamšík. José Callejón, Lorenzo Insigne and last seasons Serie A leading goal scorer, Dries Mertens will form a lethal attack that will put Juventus on their heels the entire game.
Napoli will likely roll with their usual 4-3-3. There will be no drastic changes to the starting lineup. Pepe Reina will be the man between the sticks with the backline of Faouzi Ghoulam, Raul Alibiol, Kalidou Koulibaly and Elseid Hysaj. In the midfield, Allan will start ahead of the young Polish rising star, Piotr Zieliński. Allan will be alongside Jorginho and Napoli's all time appearance leader, Marek Hamšík. José Callejón, Lorenzo Insigne and last seasons Serie A leading goal scorer, Dries Mertens will form a lethal attack that will put Juventus on their heels the entire game.
POTENTIAL MAN OF THE MATCH:
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| Dries Mertens |
SCORE PREDICTION:
Juventus2-2Napoli
Juventus2-2Napoli
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