Napoli hosts Juventus in the Serie A as pressure builds up on Gennaro Gattuso in Napoli’s hot seat after their Coppa Italia loss to Atalanta.
Napoli is on a two-game losing streak, and tensions are high between Gattuso and club president Aurelio de Laurentiis. The eccentric owner is said to be on the hunt for a new coach.
Napoli currently sits sixth in Serie A, a win away from the top four.
Andrea Pirlo’s side has been in great form of late. Juventus are unbeaten in their last seven games across all competitions, winning six of them.
The Bianconeri go into this fixture third in Serie A, seven points behind league leader’s AC Milan with a game in hand.
This clash could truly be a make-or-break for Gattuso, and a loss against Juventus on Saturday might finally seal his fate.
Head-to-Head Clash
Juventus just edge the head-to-head record in Serie A between the two sides, having won three of the last five meetings, with Napoli winning the other two.
Andrea Pirlo’s side has already registered a win over Napoli this season in the Italian Super Cup.
However, their reverse fixture was called off earlier in the season after Napoli failed to report to Turin due to cases of coronavirus detected in the squad.
Gattuso could be without a plethora of starters heading into the game. Elseid Hysaj and Diego Demme were injured earlier this week and are expected to miss the game. Kalidou Koulibaly and Faouzi Ghoulam contracted coronavirus earlier this month and will not be involved either.
Kostas Manolas and Dries Mertens will also miss the game with ankle injuries, in what would be a huge blow to Napoli.
Andrea Pirlo could welcome back Paulo Dybala from injury, although the Argentine probably won’t play a big role in the match on Saturday. Arthur won’t be in the squad after missing out on Juventus’ semi-final clash against Inter Milan due to a fever. The Brazilian has picked up an injury and will be out of the game.
Aaron Ramsey is a doubt for the game as it is still unknown if the Welsh midfielder has recovered from his muscle injury. Ramsey has missed the last three games for Juventus. Meanwhile, Leonardo Bonucci is set to be rested for the game due to muscular issues.