It was only a week ago that the Serie A season got underway, but it is already time for the two main title challengers to square off as Juventus hosts Napoli this weekend.
The Bianconeri have won the last eight titles in a row and kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 away at Parma last weekend, while Napoli followed suit a couple of hours later with an entertaining 4-3 win away against Fiorentina.
If Juventus has been almost unrivaled over the last eight years, Napoli more than any other side has done all it could to prevent Serie A from turning into a procession.
The Partenopei have finished second in the last two seasons, and in 2016/17 they came tantalizingly close to winning a first league title since the 1989/90 season.
Maurizio Sarri, one of the main reasons for Napoli's sustained title challenge two years ago, now sits on Juventus' bench.
The 60-year-old left Naples at the end of the 2017/18 campaign and after a solitary campaign in charge of Chelsea returned to Serie A to replace Massimiliano Allegri as Juventus head coach.
A born and bred Neapolitan, Sarri never made a mystery of his dislike for Juventus during his time in charge of his hometown club and his decision to join Napoli's arch-rivals has not gone down well with the fans.
Sarri, however, will miss his first meeting against his former team as he's still recovering from a bout of pneumonia that prevented him from attending Juventus' first game of the season.
The defending champions picked up where they had left off last season, but the win was somewhat overshadowed by Matthijs de Ligt's comments. Juventus signed the Dutch prodigy from Ajax for $84 million in the summer, but left him on the bench for the opening game of the campaign.
"Naturally, I would've preferred to play and I didn't get any clues from training, so I didn't expect to be on the bench," De Ligt told Dutch newspaper AD after the game.
"Obviously, I respect the decision of the coach. I must be realistic, as I am still settling in here in Italy. The defenders who played, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, were considered for a long time to be the best center-back partnership in the world."
Here's everything you need to know ahead of Saturday.
When and where is the game?
Juventus hosts Napoli at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Saturday, August 31, with kickoff scheduled for 8:45 p.m. local time (2:45 p.m. ET).
Juventus won the corresponding fixture 3-1 last season, but Napoli won 1-0 in Turin a year earlier.
TV coverage and live stream
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and will also be available in Italian on RAI Italia via fuboTV.
Form
Juventus kicked off its quest for a ninth straight title with a 1-0 win away at Parma in the opening game of the season, courtesy of a goal from Giorgio Chiellini. Napoli also got off the mark with an away win, but it was a much more entertaining affair as Carlo Ancelotti's men beat Fiorentina 4-3 in Florence.
Lorenzo Insigne scored twice, while Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon added one each.
Team news
Former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey is still short of fitness and will not make his debut for Juventus this weekend. The defending champions are also without long-term absentees Marko Pjaca and Mattia Perin, while Napoli could be without striker Arkadiusz Milik.
Odds
According to Oddschecker, Juventus is a 19/20 favorite to win on Saturday, while Napoli is 63/20 and the draw is at 47/20.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London, England. Prior to joining Newsweek in January 2018, he was a news and business reporter at International Business Times UK. Dan has also written for The Guardian and The Observer.
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