Juventus handed a massive boost ahead of the Napoli game
The recent surge in Napoli’s misery inflicted by some fresh injury issues has handed Juventus a massive mental boost ahead of the Serie A matchday 22.
The last time when the Partenopei faced the Old Lady, the latter leapfrogged the former to ensure their claim on the Supercoppa Italiana title a fortnight back. And since then, the Gennaro Gattuso-led Napoli side has been seething with the aspiration of potential retaliation.
However, their hopes of turning the coin this time have got a massive hit, as the Azzurri will be without two of their most reliable defensive assets on Saturday.
According to Football Italia, Napoli will miss Kostas Manolas and Kalidou Koulibaly going into the game against Juventus this weekend.
While Manolas sustained an injury to his right ankle against Genoa, Koulibaly tested positive for COVID-19. Hence, they both would miss the weekend’s game in Naples.
Having beaten Roma, Juventus secured the third spot on the Serie A table last weekend. The Bianconeri are seven points behind AC Milan, playing one less game than the table-toppers.
Considering the prolific form that Juve have had enjoyed lately, the aforementioned unavailabilities have already lessened the chances of salvaging a positive result for Napoli.
Gennaro Gattuso has a big decision to make on Saturday for Napoli vs. Juventus
The absences of Dries Mertens and Faouzi Ghoulam had already lowered the collective ability of Gattuso’s side. And now with two of their main defenders out ahead of what holds the promise to be a season-deciding game in Napoli’s 2020-21 campaign, Gennaro Gattuso must be feeling nothing but sheer onus upon his shoulders.
The rock-solid partnership of Manolas and Koulibaly has been one of the standout features of Napoli’s gameplay this season so far, with the former Roma centre-back making 19 appearances and the Senegalese recording 15 outings under his belt.
An irregular pairing of Nikola Maksimovic and Amir Rrahmani seems to be the only option Gattuso would be forced to field on Saturday.
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Placing an unconventional pair that hasn’t had played together in a while could summon traumatising effect on the home side, Napoli. And adding to that physiological and structural conundrum, there would be canny runners such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Morata, and Federico Chiesa to burst in behind the defence.