After failing to pick up three points against Roma, Juventus have been handed a sort of life-line as they prepare to take on Napoli...

Preview: Juventus vs Napoli

After winning their opening match against Sampdoria, by a comfortable margin, Juventus will now look forward to taking on Napoli in what will be an interesting battle between former AC Milan colleagues Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso. The Bianconeri ended up dropping two points during a two-all stalemate against Roma, which presently sees them sitting on four points, in seventh spot. Upcoming oppopnents Napoli, by contrast, have picked up a maximum six points out of six from their first two games. The Partenopei commenced their Scudetto challenge with 2-0 road victory versus Parma, before crushing Genoa 6-0 in their most recent match, meaning that they have yet to concede a goal so far this season.

However, the win over Genoa appears to have come at a high price, as Napoli could end up on the wrong end of the scoreline without even kicking a ball. Unfortunately for the visitors, the COVID-19 pandemic, which started in Wuhan, China last year and has now become a global nightmare, appears to have wreaked havoc in the Napoli camp. So far, two players and a member of Gattuso's staff have tested positive but the entire team has been placed in something called "fiduciary isolation" which is not a travel ban per se, but could see the team having to forefeit the match if they are not able to travel to Turin in time for the upcoming clash.

Should that happen, Juventus would be automatically granted a 3-0 default victory after 45 minutes. From Napoli's perspective, a postponment of the game would have been ideal, but as of now, Serie A officials have not opted to do so, and the Bianconeri have made it clear, despite having two cases of COVID-19 among their own staff, that they will be at the Allianz Stadium as usual for the match. In short, Juve have rejected their opponents' request to have the match played at a later date. Some may say this is unreasonable, but from Juve's perspective, they do really want to pick up three valuable points to help them work their way up the table, and they certainly don't have any guarantee that Napoli would owe them the same courtesy were the shoe on the other foot.

Team news: Juventus vs Napoli

Juventus: Former PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot is banned for this match, while Alex Sandro, De Ligt, and Federico Bernadeschi are still on the treatment table.

Napoli: Both Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas have tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, key striker Lorenzo Insigne is out injured, along with Kevin Malcuit.

Match facts: Juventus vs Napoli

  • Napoli have only once won their opening three Serie A games without conceding a goal...during the 1966/67 season
  • However, they could end up giving up this opportunity to match a long-standing record due to possibly forfeiting their upcoming clash with Juventus
  • Juventus have won 6 of their last 7 home matches against Napoli across all comps
  • The Bianconeri have also won 17 of their last 20 home Serie A ties

Where to watch Juventus vs Napoli live on October 4, 2020

Juventus vs Napoli kick off at 11:45 PT/14:45 ET/18:45 GMT/20:45 CET

USA: FuboTV, Rai Italia Nord America, ESPN+

Italy: Sky Sport Serie A, SKY Go Italia, Sky Sport 251, NOW TV, Sky Sport Uno

Australia: Rai Italia Australia, beIN Sports 1, Kayo Sports, beIN Sports Connect

Canada: TLN, Rai Italia Nord America, DAZN

UK: Premier Sports 1, LiveScore App, Premier Player HD

Live elsewhere? Here are your options to watch Juventus vs Napoli live from your current location:

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

Juventus 2 - 1 Napoli

April 7, 2021 12:45pmAllianz Stadium (Torino)

This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.

Live TV coverage and streaming in United States

Fanatiz USA
ESPN+
fuboTV
ESPN App
Rai Italia Nord America