Preview: Juventus vs. Napoli – prediction, team news, lineups

Bitter rivals from both aspect of the North-South divide, Juventus and Napoli conflict on the Mapei Stadium on Wednesday, within the thirty third version of the Supercoppa Italiana.

With the primary silverware of the season at stake, the Serie A champions tackle final season’s Coppa Italia winners – a repeat of June’s dramatic cup ultimate in Rome.

Match preview

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Whereas Italy’s most adorned membership, Juventus, have claimed the Supercoppa trophy eight instances because it was first awarded in 1988 (in 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018), Napoli have completed so simply twice – beating the Bianconeri on each events (1990 and 2014).

This time, Andrea Pirlo‘s outfit method doubtlessly one of the crucial explosive video games of the season on the again of a devastating Derby d’Italia defeat to fellow Scudetto contenders Inter Milan on Sunday.

Champions for 9 seasons working, Juve had been making up floor misplaced resulting from a succession of attracts within the autumn by successful their first three fixtures of 2021, together with their final journey to San Siro – a convincing 3-1 success in opposition to Milan.

Victory on Sunday would have taken Pirlo’s males one level behind Inter with a recreation in hand – to be performed versus Napoli at a but to be decided date – however they had been picked off at will by Antonio Conte‘s ruthless counter-attacking unit.

Questions stay, then, concerning the capabilities of their rookie coach and his squad’s development because the playmaking legend took cost in the summertime. Actually, Pirlo’s previous Bianconeri boss Conte gained the tactical battle of ‘Grasp versus Apprentice’, as previous reliables Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci had been consistently caught out in Milan.

That momentum-shattering defeat leaves Juventus fifth in the Serie A standings – one level and two locations behind Wednesday’s super-motivated Supercoppa opponents.

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This week, Napoli meet their previous northern foes on impartial territory – on the residence of serial overachievers Sassuolo, in Reggio Emilia. With three wins from three since their terrible collapse in opposition to ten-man Spezia firstly of the month, the Partenopei will journey to the compact Mapei Stadium stuffed with confidence.

Captain Lorenzo Insigne netted a brace within the 6-0 destruction of Fiorentina on the weekend – which moved his aspect third within the desk – and can once more lead the Naples giants into battle looking for a second straight overcome the Outdated Girl of Turin.

The final time the golf equipment met was within the Coppa Italia ultimate on the climax of a tumultuous 2019-20 marketing campaign, when Napoli prevailed on penalties after a tense goalless draw. That victory was their fourth assembly with Juventus in finals, every of which they’ve emerged from the winner – the others had been two earlier Supercoppa Italiana encounters and the Coppa ultimate in 2012.

Again in October, the season’s first scheduled assembly between the pair was controversially cancelled at quick discover after Napoli failed to show up when their total squad was positioned in quarantine by Neapolitan well being authorities.

Gennaro Gattuso‘s crew didn’t journey to Turin after two constructive COVID-19 checks induced officers to behave and so they had been initially handed a 3-0 loss by Serie A. Having since gained a reprieve after their third enchantment in opposition to the choice, the ‘end result’ was voided by CONI (the Italian Olympic Committee) and a penalty level revoked.

Dangerous blood arising from this matter was solely exacerbated when the CEO of Serie A, Luigi De Siervo, needed to strike out a “provocative” suggestion from vibrant Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis to additionally postpone the Supercoppa till the spring, when followers would possibly have the ability to attend.

For opponents who share a quarrelsome previous that reached an unsavoury crescendo through the days of Diego Maradona‘s reign in Naples, these are simply the most recent chapters in a deep-held rivalry – one which is about to lastly resume on the pitch this week.

Juventus kind (all competitions): LWWWWL

Napoli kind (all competitions): DWLWWW

Crew Information

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How Andrea Pirlo shuffles his pack – if a lot in any respect – can be telling, within the wake of their setback on the weekend. Particularly, the four-man defence composed of Danilo, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Gianluca Frabotta may very well be reformulated, significantly with Juan Cuadrado now coming back from self-isolation.

Juve are prone to nonetheless be with out defensive COVID-19 circumstances Alex Sandro and Matthijs de Ligt, in addition to the injured Paulo Dybala.

There are a number of spots up for grabs in midfield, with Arthur and Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey and Weston McKennie plus Federico Chiesa and Dejan Kulusevski all competing in opposition to one another for a begin.

Up entrance, Alvaro Morata ought to once more be paired with Cristiano Ronaldo – alternatively, Kulusevski might are available as a assist striker.

Napoli’s influential midfielder Fabian Ruiz and centre-forward Victor Osimhen are absent resulting from COVID-19, however back-up striker Andrea Petagna has recovered from a calf downside and will present the front-line focus for Gennaro Gattuso’s crew.

Dries Mertens just isn’t anticipated to be match to begin in opposition to the Bianconeri, however ought to no less than characteristic from the bench. Skipper Lorenzo Insigne, Piotr Zielinski and Hirving Lozano are in fantastic kind because the trio supporting the entrance man and will once more mix forces within the inventive division.

Juventus doable beginning lineup:
Szczesny; Danilo, Demiral, Bonucci, Frabotta; Bernardeschi, Arthur, Bentancur, Chiesa; Morata, Ronaldo

Napoli doable beginning lineup:
Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Rui; Bakayoko, Demme; Lozano, Zielinski, Insigne; Petagna

We are saying: Juventus 2-1 Napoli

Juventus can lastly get one over on Napoli for the primary time in 5 ultimate makes an attempt, by bouncing again from a disappointingly disjointed show to show their mettle.

Although this much-anticipated Supercoppa conflict might conceivably go both means, Napoli might discover Juve simply too tough to cease – definitely if the Bianconeri’s skilled strikers are again on track.

High betting tip