Headlining Serie A's ninth round, Italian giants Juventus and Napoli will convene in Turin for a heavyweight contest on Sunday.

Both coaches have a glorious past with the other club, but that must be forgotten when three points are at stake - particularly with the pair trailing Italy's top six.

Match preview

After relieving pressure with a 2-0 win over Lecce, Juventus looked to build some momentum behind their faltering campaign on Wednesday evening, when they visited Serie A strugglers Genoa.

However, they instead suffered a third league loss of the season, going down 2-0 to the Grifone at Stadio Ferraris.

Despite dominating the ball, Luciano Spalletti's injury-hit side were ultimately unable to score, and they lurched even deeper into crisis.

Juve now lie 11 points behind league leaders Inter Milan and Lazio - the latter of whom recently beat them 3-0 - while they are already at risk of missing out on the Champions League.

Sitting below newly promoted Frosinone - and just above city rivals Torino - the Turin giants have scored fewer goals than more modest clubs such as Sassuolo, Bologna and Monza.

With his job on the line, Spalletti has called the squad into a training retreat before meeting one of his former teams - of course, he helped Napoli end their long Scudetto drought in 2023. 

Juve's under-fire boss has been the subject of fierce media scrutiny, so he now needs to defeat both the Partenopei and their familiar head coach.

Both hailing from Tuscany, Spalletti and Massimiliano Allegri have not always seen eye to eye, and they will go toe to toe again this weekend - tactically, at least.

Only Giovanni Trapattoni has managed more Serie A games for Juventus than Allegri - who has won just one of his last seven league games against the Bianconeri - so it will be an emotional occasion all round.

Long known for his cautious approach, Allegri has released the handbrake in recent weeks, with Napoli scoring at least three goals in five of their last six outings.

After a busy few days - when they beat Bodo/Glimt 4-3 in the Champions League, before drawing 3-3 with southern rivals Roma in the Derby del Sole - they were back in action on Wednesday night.

Set off by Rasmus Hojlund's early opener, the Partenopei ultimately won 4-1 in Monza, leaving them seventh in the table - just above Juventus on goal difference. 

Despite winning five of their last eight Serie A games against Juve, they lost the most recent one 3-0 in January, and their general away record has been below par for several months.

Furthermore, Napoli may have won seven straight meetings in Naples, but the Bianconeri have won 11 of the last 15 in Turin, keeping clean sheets in all of the last three.

Juventus Serie A form:

Juventus form (all competitions):

Napoli Serie A form:

Napoli form (all competitions):

Team News

Contributing to their current malaise, both sides have been hit hard by injuries, and Juventus are still missing several men. 

Zeki Celik and Nico Gonzalez were the most recent entrants to a packed treatment room, joining Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram, Francisco Conceicao, Jeff Ekhator, Kamil Grabara and captain Manuel Locatelli on the sidelines.

There are few real alternatives to misfiring strikers Nick Woltemade and Randal Kolo Muani, both of whom have looked much more at home in the Europa League.

Feeling the weight of Juve's historic shirt - and an expectant home crowd - Kolo Muani has scored with just one of his last 21 shots at the Allianz Stadium.

By contrast, Kevin De Bruyne has finally found his shooting boots, moving onto four Serie A strikes for the season with Napoli's fourth goal against Monza.

Hojlund also ended his drought on Wednesday, while forward pair Giovane and Antonio Vergara have recently returned from layoffs.

However, the visitors are in a similar situation to Juve: Alessandro Buongiorno, David Neres, Costantino Favasuli, Alisson Santos, Leonardo Spinazzola and Benoit Badiashile were already unavailable before Stanislav Lobotka injured his left ankle in midweek.

Allegri must also watch on from the stands, as he serves the second game of a two-match touchline ban; once again, assistant Marco Landucci will deputise.

Juventus possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Gatti, Bremer, Lucumi; Kalulu, McKennie, Luiz, Sarr, Cambiaso; Kolo Muani, Woltemade

Napoli possible starting lineup:

Meret; Di Lorenzo, Marin, Rrahmani, Olivera; Anguissa, De Bruyne, McTominay; Politano, Lang; Hojlund

We say: Juventus 1-2 Napoli

Traditionally, the home side prevails when this pair clash, but Juventus are currently low in confidence and could be facing another defeat.

Napoli have unlocked more firepower since returning from the last international break, and that should help them outscore their ailing hosts.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.