Napoli vs Juventus: Pressure mounts on Gattuso

Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso will be under immense pressure when his side welcome Juventus on Saturday.

Reports are rife that the former Milan midfielder’s job is on the line after some recent poor results. The Partenopei come into this match having lost two of their last five games, and were dumped out of the Coppa Italia by Atalanta earlier this week. Now, losing two games along the way isn’t necessarily enough to set off alarm bells, but Napoli’s defeat to Atalanta came on the heels of an embarrassing 2-1 loss to Genoa, and last month, they were beaten 3-1 by Hellas Verona.

Two recent losses to minnows isn’t exactly what Napoli need ahead of Juventus coming to town. The Bianconeri recently defeated their upcoming hosts, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata’s goals enough to give former Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo his first piece of silverware. They arrive in Naples having beaten Roma 2-0 in a crunch battle for third spot, and as a result, have now overtaken the Giallorossi in the league standings. Despite firing blanks in a drab scoreless stalemate against Inter, Juventus had done enough to secure passage to the semi-finals thanks to a 2-1 away win at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

While Napoli find themselves in sixth spot at the moment, a win here would help them move back into the top four – temporarily, at least. They also do have a game in hand due to their participation in the Supercoppa Italiana, and that could really come in handy as they battle for a top-four spot. However, Juventus come into this match unbeaten in their last seven matches across all comps. And the hosts are facing a worrying injury and illness crisis concerning several of their key players. Both Kalidou Koulibaly and Faouzi Ghoulam contracted COVID-19 and thus won’t be able to play here. In addition, Elseid Hysaj and Diego Demme suffered injuries this week, and now will join both Dries Mertens and Kostas Manolas on the treatment table.

Furthermore, clean sheets have eluded Napoli as of late; in fact, they’ve only been able to keep two in their most recent games (Parma 2-0 and Fiorentina 6-0). And in terms of their record against title contenders, the only side they’ve beaten is Roma, with defeats to both Inter and Milan, as well as against a Lazio side who could be potential dark horses for the Scudetto.

Juventus will face Porto in the Champions League next week, but first, the Bianconeri will look to make it an fourth straight Serie A win at the expense of the Southern Italian outfit. La Vecchia Signora have had some bumps in the road this season as they look to win an unprecedented tenth consecutive Scudetto. That includes an embarrassing 3-0 home loss to Fiorentina, as well as draws with teams like Crotone and Benevento. Could those dropped points affect them? Perhaps, but it’s important to remember that Juventus do have a game in hand, and Milan and Inter are set to do battle in the latest installment of the Derby della Madonnina next round.

2021 has been a much better year for the reigning champions. They’re the first side to beat Milan in Serie A, and although they were defeated 2-0 by Inter, Pirlo got the upper hand over his former coach Antonio Conte in the Coppa Italia. Coupled with their key win over Roma, Juventus have put themselves in good stead ahead of this big match. Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently established himself as football’s all-time top goalscorer, has 16 goals so far as he attempts to beat the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Romelu Lukaku, and last season’s Capocannoniere winner Ciro Immobile for the top scorer prize in Italian football’s top flight.

This is actually the first meeting between Napoli and Juventus in the league, as their prior match was canceled due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the Partenopei ranks. So far, Pirlo holds the overall advantage over his former Milan colleague thanks to Juve’s 2-0 Supercoppa Italiana win, and will naturally look to take advantage of a side who have fallen into a rut. As such, Juventus know that a win here is crucial, especially with league leaders Milan expected to beat debutant side Spezia later in the day.