Football Italia
·25 Januari 2025
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·25 Januari 2025
Juventus give Randal Kolo Muani his debut with Kenan Yildiz in the showdown with Serie A leaders Napoli, facing Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay.
It kicks off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona at 17.00 GMT.
This was expected to be a Scudetto battle, but midway through the campaign Juventus are 13 points off the leaders, despite being unbeaten in Serie A.
That is because they have won only eight games and drew 13 of them, also held to a Champions League stalemate by Club Brugge midweek.
The big news is the arrival of Kolo Muani on loan from Paris Saint-Germain and, after red tape delays, he is thrown straight in at the deep end for his debut supported by Kenan Yildiz, Teun Koopmeiners and Nico Gonzalez.
Dusan Vlahovic is still not 100 per cent fit, with Arek Milik, Gleison Bremer and Juan Cabal long-term absentees.
NAPLES, ITALY – NOVEMBER 24: Romelu Lukaku of Napoli celebrates after scoring his side first goal during the Serie A match between Napoli and AS Roma at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on November 24, 2024 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
Napoli sold Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to PSG this month and his natural replacement – David Neres – was already in the squad.
Lukaku and Matteo Politano complete the usual trident attack with McTominay pushing up from midfield.
Matias Olivera is out of action, with Alessandro Buongiorno finally back on the bench for the first time since sustaining a back injury in December, so Leonardo Spinazzola steps in at left-back.
Antonio Conte’s men have won six Serie A matches on the bounce, culminating in last week’s 3-2 thriller away to Atalanta.
When these sides met in Turin back on September 21, it ended goalless.
Napoli: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Spinazzola; Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay; Politano, Lukaku, Neres
Juventus: Di Gregorio; McKennie, Gatti, Kalulu, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Yildiz, Koopmeiners, Nico Gonzalez; Kolo Muani