McTominay has 31 Napoli goals but none against Juventus

McTominay has scored 31 goals in 88 appearances for Napoli, 24 of them in Serie A. None has come against Juventus.

The numbers show how odd that gap is. He scored 13 goals in his first season at Napoli and 14 in his second, and he already has four in this one. At Manchester United he managed 29 goals in 255 games in all competitions. That is two fewer than he has scored here, from nearly three times as many matches. In Italy he has changed jobs: he is now a midfielder who finishes moves.

Turin also matters to him for a particular reason. On 21 September 2024, after a debut off the bench at Cagliari, Antonio Conte gave him his first start, at the Allianz Stadium against Juventus. Thirteen days later, on 4 October against Como, he scored his first goal. That began the season that made him one of the key men of the scudetto (the Serie A title) win. His story as a Napoli starter began in that stadium.

This season he has been scoring freely, but the team has also needed him to cover for its problems. He was sidelined in September with an arrhythmia. When he came back he scored four goals in two games, with braces against Bodø/Glimt and Roma. Napoli conceded three in both: 4-3 in the Champions League, 3-3 at the Diego Armando Maradona. His goals have covered for a defence that concedes too much, 11 goals in nine league games. At Monza he often played behind the striker and kept shooting, but did not score.

Without Lobotka, he matters even more

Allegri starts him as a left-sided central midfielder but lets him move up and down the pitch. He can push up close to the striker, press, join counter-attacks and arrive in scoring positions. On Sunday that freedom will count for even more. Lobotka is still out, and Allegri has spoken of a six-week absence. Rrahmani and Anguissa are in the squad despite having flu. With Allegri suspended, Landucci will again be in the dugout. In a midfield stripped to the bone, goals from deep are not a bonus. They are a necessity.

That leaves a question hanging over the side. Højlund's goal at Monza was his first since 5 September, and Lucca has not scored at all this season. Napoli are chasing fourth place, held on Saturday 31 October by Milan on 21 points, seven above them. A team with that aim cannot rely every week on late runs from a central midfielder to score its goals. It is to McTominay's credit that he keeps delivering. That he has to do it so often says a lot about how the squad was built, and the responsibility lies with those who built it.

The table is also at stake. Juventus and Napoli are level on 14 points, so the winner moves clear of the other. McTominay needs one goal to cross Juventus off the list of teams he has never scored against, in the stadium where he became a starter. Porto away at the Dragão follows on Wednesday 4 November at 21:00 CET, but this game comes first.