Missing Players and team news:
Central defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Merih Demiral – who both tested positive for COVID-19 during the international period – are still unavailable for Juventus, so Matthijs de Ligt and Giorgio Chiellini should continue at the heart of the hosts’ back four. Miscreant trio Weston McKennie, Paulo Dybala and Arthur were omitted from the squad for the Turin Derby after involvement in a party at the American midfielder’s home last week, but have been reintegrated ahead of this Wednesday’s potentially pivotal game. Coach Andrea Pirlo made the pragmatic decision to welcome them back into the squad on Monday. Versatile Brazil international Danilo started in midfield against Torino, but either McKennie or Aaron Ramsey could be preferred to partner Rodrigo Bentancur versus Napoli. After his costly error at the weekend, Dejan Kulusevski could return to the bench, with Federico Bernardeschi among those pushing for a start out wide. Visitors Napoli now have an almost full-strength squad, after an injury crisis contributed to their exit from the Europa League in February, so Gennaro Gattuso has some attacking selection dilemmas to resolve. Though Victor Osimhen has started to impress – and, crucially, find the net – the former Lille front man faces competition from Dries Mertens for the centre-forward’s spot if Gattuso decides to bring in Piotr Zielinski back into the side. The talented midfielder had been a doubt to face Crotone after a COVID-19 outbreak in the Poland squad, but he was given the all-clear to take a seat on the bench, with Mertens dropping into his deeper creative role. Gattuso could even be tempted to introduce Mexican winger Hirving Lozano from the start, given his ability to shred opposition defences with his pace, though Matteo Politano has impressed in recent weeks. Fortunately for the Azzurri, defensive mainstay Kalidou Koulibaly returns from suspension, so should replace error-prone Nikola Maksimovic alongside Kostas Manolas at the back. Meanwhile, full-back Faouzi Ghoulam remains injured and David Ospina fractured his finger in training last week, so Alex Meret is likely to continue in goal, even though both Ospina and midfielder Diego Demme returned to training this week.
