The Serie A title race heats up as defending champions Napoli welcome a revitalized Juventus to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday, December 7, 2025. Kick-off is set for 19:45 GMT (14:45 ET), and this fixture promises tactical intrigue, personal rivalries, and high stakes. With Napoli joint-top and Juventus pushing for European spots, a win could shift the momentum in the 2025-26 campaign. In this comprehensive Napoli vs Juventus match preview, we\u2019ll break down form, potential lineups, and expert score predictions.<\/p>\n
Napoli<\/strong> enter the fray in scintillating shape, sitting joint-top of the Serie A table with 28 points from 13 games (9 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses). Antonio Conte\u2019s side has been a scoring machine, netting 20 goals while conceding just 10, showcasing a blend of attacking flair and defensive solidity. Their recent 1-0 away win at Roma\u2014thanks to David Neres\u2019 strike\u2014extended an unbeaten run across competitions to nine games (six wins, three draws). Midweek, they edged Cagliari 9-8 on penalties in the Coppa Italia after a 1-1 draw, highlighting resilience despite injuries.<\/p>\n At home, Napoli are untouchable: unbeaten in Serie A at the Maradona for a full calendar year (15 wins, 5 draws), they haven\u2019t lost there since December 2024. This streak includes six straight home wins over Juventus, scoring 14 goals in those encounters. Conte, who won three straight Scudetti with Juve from 2012-14, will relish facing his former club, but absences like Alex Meret (foot), Romelu Lukaku (thigh), Kevin De Bruyne (thigh), and Stanislav Lobotka (injury) test his squad depth.<\/p>\n Juventus<\/strong>, under new boss Luciano Spalletti, have steadied after a rocky start that cost Igor Tudor his job. Seventh with 23 points (6 wins, 5 draws, 2 losses), they\u2019ve kept three straight clean sheets and remain unbeaten in seven games across all competitions (4 wins, 3 draws). A 2-0 Coppa Italia win over Udinese midweek followed a 2-1 league victory at Cagliari, with Kenan Yildiz emerging as their talisman (4 goals, 3 assists). However, away form is patchy: just 8 points from 6 road games (2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses), and they\u2019ve failed to score in two of their last five Serie A away outings.<\/p>\n Spalletti, who delivered Napoli\u2019s 2023 Scudetto, faces his old side for the first time since leaving. But injuries plague Turin: Dusan Vlahovic (muscle), Gleison Bremer (knee), Federico Gatti (surgery), Arkadiusz Milik (calf), Daniele Rugani (calf), and Carlo Pinsoglio (calf) are out, thinning an already stretched defense.<\/p>\n Both sides favor a 3-4-2-1, setting up a midfield scrap between Scott McTominay (Napoli) and Manuel Locatelli\/Khephren Thuram (Juventus). Napoli\u2019s wing-backs (Di Lorenzo, Olivera) will push forward, while Juventus relies on Yildiz\u2019s creativity.<\/p>\n Napoli Predicted XI (3-4-2-1):<\/strong> Vanja Milinkovi\u0107-Savi\u0107 (GK) \u2013 Sam Beukema, Amir Rrahmani, Alessandro Buongiorno \u2013 Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Elif Elmas, Scott McTominay, Math\u00edas Olivera \u2013 David Neres, Noa Lang \u2013 Rasmus H\u00f8jlund<\/p>\n Juventus Predicted XI (3-4-2-1):<\/strong> Michele Di Gregorio (GK) \u2013 Pierre Kalulu, Lloyd Kelly, Teun Koopmeiners \u2013 Andrea Cambiaso, Manuel Locatelli, Kh\u00e9phren Thuram, Filip Kosti\u0107 \u2013 Chico Concei\u00e7\u00e3o, Kenan Yildiz \u2013 Jonathan David<\/p>\n Experts lean toward a Napoli win, given their home record and Juventus\u2019 absences. BTTS (both teams to score) has landed in 67% of Napoli\u2019s home games and half of Juventus\u2019 aways, but under 2.5 goals is a strong play (hits in 69% of Juve\u2019s matches).<\/p>\n Our Prediction:<\/strong> Napoli 2-1 Juventus. The hosts break through via set-pieces or Neres\u2019 invention, with Yildiz nabbing a consolation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Serie A title race heats up as defending champions Napoli welcome a revitalized Juventus to the Stadio Diego Armando\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":37484,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[180,179],"class_list":["post-16649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-juventus","tag-napoli"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Potential Lineups: Injuries Shape Tactical Battles<\/h2>\n
Score Predictions: Napoli to Edge a Tight Affair<\/h2>\n