Juventus vs Napoli prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-12-07 19:45.
Juventus remained within touching distance of the Serie A (SA) summit with their slender 2-1 victory over Monza last weekend. That result extended their unbeaten run to nine games (W7, D2), although a victory at home to reigning champions Napoli would temporarily lift them into top spot this Friday. Their current title challenge has been built on solid defensive foundations, having conceded just nine times across their 14 league games so far this season.
That sturdy backline has contributed to an unbeaten home league record to date (W5, D2), though that will come under serious threat against a Napoli side who Juve have failed to beat in the last two home H2Hs (D1, L1). That represented the first time Juventus have failed to win back-to-back home league H2Hs in over a decade, but they’ve not registered three failures in a row since a run between 1995 and 1998!
This is the fourth in a series of games against top opposition for Napoli, who defeated Atalanta to kick off this tough period before losing to Real Madrid and then 3-0 against league leaders Inter Milan last weekend. The latter caused quite a stir, with the Napoli CEO lodging a formal complaint about the quality of refereeing in SA after his side were controversially denied a penalty.
Controversy aside, Napoli look unlikely to defend their SA title successfully after a run of eight league games with differing results in sequence (W4, D1, L3) has left them 11 points from the top. However, their key strength has been their away form, as they boast one of only two unbeaten road records in SA (W5, D2), a return which accounts for over two-thirds of their points gained this term.
Players to watch: Dušan Vlahović’s last three goals this season opened Juventus’ account for the game, as did his last strike against Napoli during a cup win in 2021/22. As for Napoli, Victor Osimhen has yet to net since his return from injury, but this could be the game to do it in after scoring twice and assisting as many goals across five personal H2Hs with Juventus.
Hot stat: Napoli have scored in both halves in five of their seven away league games this season, a comfortable league high.