Napoli's selection for Juventus vs Napoli points to a midfield-first plan, with kick-off set for 20:45 CET, 19:45 GMT. They arrive after a win on the Monza pitch, and the expected shape puts Napoli around Kevin De Bruyne, Frank Anguissa and Scott McTominay in the middle, with Matteo Politano, Rasmus Højlund and Noa Lang ahead of them.
Napoli's midfield selection
Max Allegri is expected to keep the 4-3-3, and Calciomercato.it said, in comments translated from Italian: "Max Allegri confirms the 4-3-3 and is forced to do without Lobotka in midfield: space, therefore, for De Bruyne, Anguissa and McTominay."
That is the central line here. Stanislav Lobotka is out of the expected lineup, and Napoli's shape looks built to control the middle rather than chase a more open game. Their recent run supports that reading too, with seven points from their last five Serie A matches.
Juventus's injury list and Ekhator's return
Juventus have eight injured players, Khéphren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli, Kenan Yildiz, Arkadiusz Milik, Francisco Conceição, Nico González, Zeki Çelik and Kamil Grabara. Luciano Spalletti still gets one small boost, with Jeff Ekhator back in the 21-man squad after recovering from a semitendinosus injury.
football-italia.net reported: "Jeff Ekhator is back in the Juventus squad for tonight’s Serie A clash with Napoli at the Allianz Stadium."
Locatelli has only three appearances this season, while Conceição has seven Serie A appearances and one goal. Juventus also come into the game level with Napoli on 14 points in Serie A, so the selection picture matters even without any talk of a title race.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
