Italian champions Juventus FC take on league leaders SSC Napoli in a mouth watering top of the table clash at the Juventus stadium on Saturday night.
Napoli are currently at the top of the Serie A table with 56 points after 24 matches, and challengers Juventus are 2 points behind on 54. A win for the Neapolitans will take them 5 points clear of Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus and make them clear favourites for the Scudetto come the end of the season. Juventus however, are currently on a record 14 match winning run and will be very hard to beat in front of their own fans.
Giorgio Chiellini ruled out of Napoli clash
Veteran centre-back Giorgio Chiellini will not feature against Napoli on Saturday after tearing his right leg muscles last weekend. The Italian international, who came off injured after 77 minutes against Frosinone last sunday will be out of action for the next 3 weeks. Allegri is likely to resort to 4 at the back in the absence of Chiellini with Andrea Barzagli filling in at center back.
“I don’t know if we’ll play with three or four at the back tomorrow,” said Allegri (as reported by the club’s official website). “I’ll have a good think about it in the two training sessions that remain. Regardless, the numbers make little difference because we’ve always defended as a four anyway.
“I’ll need to check on Khedira, while Zaza and Morata are both in contention to partner Dybala. As far as injuries are concerned, we’re unfortunately without Caceres for the rest of the season. Chiellini and Mandzukic will continue to be monitored and Asamoah’s on the road to recovery.
“Pereyra? He still hasn’t got 90 minutes in his legs but remains an important player for us. I was pleased with how he performed in Frosinone.”
.@OfficialAllegri: “@MarioMandzukic9 and @chiellini will both miss out on #JuveNapoli.”
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) February 12, 2016
Sarri and Napoli blessed with a clean bill of health
Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli, on the other hand, have no major injury concerns ahead of their clash with the Bianconeri on Saturday. The Neapolitans are expected to line up in their usual 4-3-3 formation with Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Maria Callejon flanking the red hot Gonzalo Higuain up front. Allan, Jorginho and club captain Marek Hamsik will form the midfield three while Hysaj, Koulibaly, Ghoulam and Raul Albiol will line up in defence for the Naples club.