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Juventus and Napoli square off in the second to last Serie a Round, with the visitors in big need of a win – while Juve will celebrate the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia win in front of their own fans.
Juventus won 2-1 in extra time against Lazio midweek, claiming yet another trophy this season. Allegri’s side has been virtually flawless in Italy this season and they proved that even with a ‘B squad’ they are more than competitive – defeating Inter 2-1 at Meazza last week before the Cup final. Juve will probably rotate the squad a bit today, but wholesale changes are not expected, as they don’t want to ruin the celebration with a loss.
Napoli has much more to fight for than Juve and this game has a colossal importance for the visitors. They are 4th in the table, 3 points behind Lazio and 4 points behind Roma – but with the Roman derby taking place on Sunday, Napoli has a huge chance to take advantage and possibly play last round’s game against Lazio with a Champions League spot on the table. The visitors are in pretty good form, losing just 1 of the last 7 games in Serie A, though the loss to Dnipro in Europa League will still haunt them.
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Team news & lineups:
Lichtsteiner, Caceres and Romulo are out for Juventus. Matri will probably get the nod in front of Tevez after his cup – winning goal and there will probably be 2-3 other changes in the lineup as well. Napoli will only miss Koulibaly aside from old injuries to Zuniga, De Guzman and Michu.
Juventus: Buffon – Padoin, Barzagli, Bonucci, De Ceglie – Sturaro, Marchisio, Vidal – Pereyra – Morata, Matri
Napoli: Andujar – Maggio, Albiol, Britos, Ghoulam – Lopez, Inler – Callejon, Hamsik, Mertens – Higuain
Motivation is always very important, but many times punters tend to put too much importance on it and we see it year after year in the closing stages of the season – bettors getting burn at pathetic odds just because a team “needs” the win. Juventus is obviously the better team and they will surely not roll over and die, they want to celebrate the Scudetto and the Cup in front of their own fans and than they can play it cool next week in the last round. However, Napoli is not just another team. Their quality, motivation and Juve resting a few players will give the visitors hope they can grab all three points.
This one looks to be a matchup made in heaven for a draw, but Juventus might edge it if Allegri keeps the rotation to a minimum. I am going for the draw, but I will secure my stakes in case of a Juventus win – so my tip is a draw on the ‘Juventus no bet’ market. Prediction: Juventus – Napoli 1-1.
Pick: Juventus No Bet – Draw
Odds: 2.20 @ Bwin
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 9.60
Event date: 23 May
