History favours Juventus, the form book says Napoli
Thiago Motta's Juventus visit the Stadio Maradona on Saturday as the only remaining unbeaten team in Serie A (W8, D13) and one of just two undefeated sides in Europe's top five leagues, together with PSG.
Historically, the Bianconeri have had the upper hand in past meetings and are the team with the most wins (71) and most goals (227) against Napoli in the Italian top flight. There have been 37 Napoli wins and 49 draws in the previous 157 encounters.
However, recent results have favoured the Azzurri, who have won six of the last ten against Juventus, with two draws and two defeats. That's at least two more victories than any other team has managed against the Bianconeri since the start of 2020.
Indeed, Napoli are unbeaten in six of the last seven matches with Saturday's opponents (W4, D2), their only defeat coming on 8 December 2023 at Allianz Stadium (1-0).
The reverse fixture in Turin on 21 September ended goalless and these two two teams haven't drawn both league meetings in the same season since 1996/97.
A tale of two defences. Juve dangerous on the counter
Antonio Conte's side have claimed the most victories (16) in Europe's top five leagues this term – exactly double Juve's tally – but if there's one area where Napoli and Juventus have both excelled this year, it's in defence. In the top five European leagues, the Azzurri have recorded more clean sheets (12) than anyone so far this season, followed by Thiago Motta's men with 11 (the same as Real Sociedad).
Napoli and Juventus have also conceded the fewest total goals in Serie A – 14 and 17, respectively.
The same goes for the number of shots afforded to opponents: the Azzurri (58) and Bianconeri (61) form two of the top three in this area, with Bologna (60) in between.
One of the key characteristics of Motta's side is their possession play. They boast the second-highest average in the Italian top flight (59.7%, behind Inter on 60.1%) and the most moves with at least ten consecutive passes (408).
The Bianconeri are also dangerous on the break and – together with Lazio – have scored the most goals on the counter-attack this term (five).
A weakness of the Piedmont outfit is their difficulty in holding onto a lead: in the current Serie A campaign, only Venezia (22) and Bologna (17) have dropped more points than Juventus (14) from winning positions.
Kenan Yildiz talent, Nico Gonzalez Napoli threat
Juventus have the league's fifth-best attack (behind Napoli, Lazio, Atalanta and Inter) with 35 goals scored by 13 different players – eight of whom have netted at least twice.
One of the main dangers for the Azzurri rearguard is talented youngster Kenan Yildiz, who already has six Serie A goals to his name before the age of 20 – the exact same number as another famous No.10, Alessandro Del Piero. Since the start of the ’90s, only Moise Kean (with seven) has managed more in the competition before his 20th birthday.
If the Turk were to find the net against Napoli, he would become the third-youngest goalscorer in Serie A fixtures between these two sides, after Marcelo Zalayeta (19 years, 99 days on 14 March 1998) and Paul Pogba (19 years, 219 days on 20 October 2012), both in a Bianconeri shirt.
Dusan Vlahovic's performances have not been particularly consistent this season but he tends to have a bigger impact away from home, scoring five of his seven goals on the road – only Sebastiano Esposito (seven) and Mateo Retegui (six) have a bigger away tally.
Nicolas Gonzalez meanwhile has made a significant contribution in his six previous meetings with Napoli, having had a hand in three goals (two scored, one assisted) – in Serie A he only has a better record against Sassuolo (four).
Stats by Opta
