The new Serie A round kicks off with a huge match-up on Friday as Juventus hosts Napoli. The Old Lady has a chance to climb to the top of the league with three points.
Bookmaker Betfred offers odds at 1.80 for both teams to score in the contest, while the odds are at 1.91 for both teams not to score.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: December 7th, 7:30 P.M. (EST)
This is a meeting between a hot and a slumping team. Juve hasn’t lost any of its last nine league outings, picking up seven wins during the run, while Napoli suffered a second defeat in three Serie A rounds last weekend. The team’s chances of defending the Serie A title seem all but over, but Napoli can still play a part in the title race by robbing Juventus a few points.
Juve stumbled out of the gates and lost some very valuable points early in the campaign, but they have been nearly perfect with their work for over two months and would be one point ahead of Inter Milan with a victory on Friday.
A superb defensive record has played a major part in Juventus’ success, but the team deserves credit all around. Massimiliano Allegri’s side looks more like a squad in a rebuild mode, and it would be a very impressive achievement if Juve managed to stay in the title race all the way until the end.
Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa have slowly started to pick up pace again, while Adrien Rabiot continues to shine in the Juve midfield. He’s been one of the most prolific midfielders across the top five leagues in Europe this calendar year and has contributed two goals and three assists to the team’s success in 2023-24.
Napoli’s new boss, Walter Mazzarri, will hope to see Stanislav Lobotka shut down Rabiot in a midfield battle on Friday. Attacking-wise, it should continue to be the Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen show, although both players have failed to hit the high standards from last season. It’s the biggest reason why Napoli has been limited to a battle for a top-four position instead of having another crack at the Scudetto.
Mazzarri, who took over from Rudi Garcia on Nov. 14., has had a disappointing start to his reign. The team beat Atalanta 2-1 on his debut, but back-to-back defeats against Real Madrid and Inter Milan have followed, with Napooi conceding seven goals in the two games. This could make the visitors very careful in Turin on Friday, although it’s been a match-up that has brought a lot of success for Napoli in recent seasons. There have been three wins from the last four meetings for them and only one loss across the last seven league clashes.
