Juventus: 5 key players to watch against Napoli

Juventus will face off against Napoli on Serie A’s Matchday 3. Here are five key players to watch on the Bianconeri.

After looking like a finely-tuned machine in a 3-0 opening victory over Sampdoria, Juventus fell back into their old habits of meandering, pointless attacking football last weekend. They were lucky to leave the capital with a point, as Cristiano Ronaldo’s brace ensured Juve would end up with a share of the spoils.

This Sunday, Juventus will take on Napoli at the Allianz Stadium in what should be another tough matchup for Andrea Pirlo. Here are five key players to watch as the Bianconeri look to get back into the win column.

Juventus CB Leonardo Bonucci

Leanardo Bonucci had a very rough outing against Roma last Sunday, completely failing to mark Edin Dzeko on several occasions. It was inexplicably poor defending from an experienced player. You’d think Bonucci would have had Dzeko locked in as THE player to watch on Roma.

This weekend, Bonucci will draw a much more difficult matchup. Napoli’s new striker Victor Osimhen is on fire after joining the team from Lille and looks better than advertised. He’s an even bigger goal threat than Dzeko and loves embarrassing defenders who aren’t on his level. Bonucci needs to step his game up.

Juventus CM Rodrigo Bentancur

Andrea Pirlo has a lot of center midfielders he can pick in any given week, but Rodrigo Bentancur will be the man of the hour against Napoli. Bentancur’s defensive steel, athleticism, and ball recovering as a box-to-box midfielder will be key against Gennaro Gattuso’s men.

Bentancur will go up against Dries Mertens and Fabian Ruiz as part of a talented and balanced Napoli midfield. The Uruguayan must be at his best defensively.

Juventus FW Dejan Kulusevski

Playing Dejan Kulusevski as an inverted wing back on the right side didn’t go to plan. Andrea Pirlo wanted to give Kulusevski a chance to still cut inside on his left foot to continue to offer that goal-scoring threat from the right, but Kulusevski was essentially taken out of the game. He could not cut back on his left, and the Roma defense challenged him to put in crosses. But he never could.

Kulusevski and Cristiano Ronaldo are the dynamic duo up top, and Kulusevski is a much better forward partner for Ronaldo than the overrated Alvaro Morata. Against Kalidou Koulibaly and Kostas Manolas, Kulusevski’s agility and eye for goal will be crucial.

Juventus CAM Aaron Ramsey

The center attacking midfielder for Pirlo, Aaron Ramsey had a brief renaissance performance against Sampdoria on Matchday 1 before falling back down to earth against Roma in an invisible display. Ramsey unfortunately looked a lot like the unimaginative, lethargic player from the 2019-2020 season than the classy attacking midfielder from his Arsenal days on Matchday 2.

On Matchday 3, Ramsey will need to bring chance creation and plenty of work off the ball to the table against Gennaro Gattuso’s organized defense. Napoli have the personnel to take Ramsey out of the game, specifically shielding midfielder Diego Demme. Ramsey has to put in the work.

Juventus GK Wojciech Szczesny

Finally, the man between the sticks is a player to watch for the Bianconeri this Sunday. It’s easy to overlook the Polish goalkeeper despite his standing as Serie A’s best, but last week offered a subtle example of his importance. Without his stops in one-on-one situations, Juve would have absolutely lost that match to Roma.

Against Dries Mertens, Victor Osimhen, and an in-form Hirving Lozano (two goals already this season), Szczesny will have to make a few big stops to keep Juventus in a position to win.