On the again of an eight-match profitable streak, Juventus have by some means discovered their approach again to title competition, albeit as outsiders, setting the stage for a serious Scudetto showdown on Friday in opposition to runaway leaders Napoli on their very own turf on the San Paolo Stadium.
Following final week’s defeat at Giuseppe Meazza, the Partenopei misplaced their invincibility aura, however they swiftly bounced again with a cushty victory over Sampdoria within the weekend, preserving a seven-point hole between them and the Bianconeri.
Due to this fact, Juve can’t afford a defeat on the Maradona Stadium in the event that they intend to keep up tempo with the leaders, so Max Allegri should discover the appropriate recipe to tame the southerners.
Whereas Luciano Spalletti possesses a squad stuffed with formidable expertise, three gamers have stood above the remainder through the course of the season, and it could be obligatory for the Bianconeri to restrict their hazard.
So let’s take a better have a look at Napoli’s three most harmful gamers, and the doable means to nullify their risk on Friday.
Stanislav Lobotka
Virtually out of the blue, Stanislav Lobotka has immediately introduced himself as among the best deep-lying playmakers in Serie A, which is a exceptional achievement contemplating his preliminary struggles in southern Italy.
The Slovakian is superb in terms of sustaining possession and may simply draw his opponents off place, creating house within the course of, solely to modify the play in the direction of the wings and permit his teammates to launch scathing assaults.
Due to this fact, Juventus should not fall into his traps by having midfielders breaking the road whereas chasing the 28-year-old deep into Napoli’s areas. As an alternative, it could be wiser to have the 2 strikers (or presumably Angel Di Maria if he acts as an attacking midfielder) to man-mark Lobotka and attempt to forestall him from receiving the ball within the first place, whereas conserving our midfield line in place.
Kvicha Kvaratskhelia
Fortunately for the Outdated Woman, we’re but to see the very best model from the Georgian sensation following his return to damage. However because the cliché goes: class is everlasting.
The 21-year-old is just a cheat code of a left winger, with a devastating tempo and a simple capacity to dribble previous opponents earlier than both selecting up a teammate or going for aim himself.
In the mean time, Juventus are adopting a 3-5-2 formation, which ought to come useful on this event. Whereas Danilo will certainly have his arms stuffed with the younger man, he ought to be capable to depend on the appropriate wingback to help him in his daunting mission.
Due to this fact, Weston McKennie could be the very best candidate for the disagreeable job, whereas Federico Chiesa may storm the pitch as a super-sub within the second half as soon as Kvara’s power ranges start to drop.
Victor Osimhen
In Victor Osimhen, Napoli arguably possess essentially the most explosive striker in Italian soccer. The Nigerian runs at defenses with unparalleled ferocity. Furthermore, he possesses a rare capacity to achieve the ball forward of his marker.
Clearly, an epic battle with Gleison Bremer will ensue, however Juventus can’t assign the Brazilian with the duty of nullifying the Nigerian on his personal, because the latter will ultimately handle to skip previous his marker on one or two events.
As an alternative, Allegri wants to put in a system which deprives the striker from the areas and prevents him from storming into the field at will. Isolating him from the remainder of this teammates can be the best situation for Juventus.
On this regard, Manuel Locatelli may have a serious function to play, as he and the remainder of the midfield pack must drop deep at occasions and tighten the defensive strains, denying Osimhen from working within the gap, which is the place he usually lurks earlier than making sudden runs in the direction of the 18-yard field.
