Two Serie A giants will go toe to toe in Turin on Saturday evening, as Juventus tackle the Napoli team of club hero Antonio Conte.
While Juve are still unbeaten and made an impressive Champions League return in midweek, the visitors have bounced back from a first-day defeat to collect maximum points from their next three matches.
Match preview
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Making their Champions League comeback after one year away, Juventus took on free-scoring Eredivisie champions PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday, and despite losing their clean-sheet record, Thiago Motta's men ran out 3-1 winners in their league-phase opener.
Kenan Yildiz started the scoring, before goals from Weston McKennie and Nico Gonzalez put the points out of PSV's reach, and even conceding in stoppage time could not take the shine off a statement victory.
Under new boss Motta, Juve started the season in style, posting back-to-back 3-0 wins before going slightly off the boil, recording successive 0-0 draws against Roma and Empoli.
The Bianconeri have now posted four straight clean sheets to start a Serie A season for just the fifth time ever, and with several new signings joining a handful of young stars in their squad this season, they may expect to fight it out for the title.
However, those two stalemates either side of the international break see Juventus trail Napoli by a point heading into Saturday's showdown, with city rivals Torino two further in front.
Juve have won 10 of their last 13 home games against Napoli, including a 1-0 success last season, so they will aim to continue in that vein this weekend, when one of their all-time great coaches returns to Turin.
Among men with at least 50 games in charge of the Bianconeri, Antonio Conte (68%) sits second in terms of win percentage across all competitions. Furthermore, he is one of only six coaches to have surpassed 100 wins while with Juventus.
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Having previously been boss of Juve's arch-rivals Inter Milan, this will not be Conte's first return to the Allianz Stadium, and he will have no sentiment as he tries to engineer victory over his former club.
Napoli have actually won six of their last nine games against Juventus in Serie A - as many as in the previous 22 - and recent results suggest they could take maximum points this time around.
Following a shaky start to the season - in which they just scraped through in the Coppa Italia and then lost their league opener 3-0 to Hellas Verona - the Azzurri have since gone through the gears and now occupy second place in the standings with nine points from a possible 12.
Three consecutive wins - with an average of three goals scored per game - have seen optimism grow in Naples, with the most recent being a 4-0 thumping of Cagliari.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Romelu Lukaku were among the scorers in Sardinia, and now Napoli could record four straight Serie A wins in for the first time since the start of last year, when Luciano Spalletti's side were freewheeling their way to the Scudetto.
A challenge for top spot this term is not out of the question, as in addition to having Conte in the dugout, they can rest most midweeks after failing to qualify for Europe in a calamitous 2023-24 campaign.
An exception will come around next week, when hosting Palermo in the Coppa Italia, but first Napoli must try to topple one of their oldest foes.
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Team News
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Thiago Motta may make some changes to his lineup, with Juventus having played in midweek, as Khephren Thuram, Nicolo Fagioli and Douglas Luiz all push for promotion from the bench.
After Federico Gatti came off injured on Tuesday, he may be forced to drop out of the hosts' back four; only ex-Napoli striker Arkadiusz Milik and Francisco Conceicao are definitely sidelined.
Sure to start up front, Dusan Vlahovic will seek his second goal of the season, as he tries to improve a weak record against Saturday's opponents: the Serbian has scored just once in 516 minutes played versus Napoli to date.
Meanwhile, the visitors' new attacking hope, Romelu Lukaku, has found the net in both of his first two appearances for the club, but across both the Premier League and Serie A, the Belgian forward has never managed to score in each of his first three matches.
He will be supported by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and either David Neres or Matteo Politano in the final third, but it remains to be seen whether Antonio Conte will switch things up elsewhere, after Scottish pair Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay both made their debut from the bench last weekend.
Having benefited from a full week's preparation, Napoli have no injuries to concern them and can name their strongest XI.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Savona, Kalulu, Bremer, Cambiaso; Locatelli; Gonzalez, McKennie, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Vlahovic
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno, Olivera; McTominay, Lobotka, Anguissa; Politano, Lukaku, Kvaratskhelia
We say: Juventus 1-1 Napoli
It promises to be a tight tactical battle between two intense coaches, as a couple of Calcio heavyweights scrap it out on Saturday.
Napoli have attempted the most shots so far in Serie A (72), but well-drilled Juventus have faced the fewest (25) and could grind out another draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
