Papers put Juventus on trial as Napoli count their injuries before Turin

Juventus host Napoli at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday 1 November at 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 14:45 ET). Both sides have 14 points, so the winner moves clear of the other. You would hardly know it from Saturday's papers, which cover the match mostly from the Juventus side.

Coach or players

The papers do not agree on who is to blame at Juventus. Corriere dello Sport puts it on the coach: after Genoa, another defeat would leave Spalletti even more isolated, and against Napoli he is "risking his neck". Tuttosport's front page points at the players instead.

"Spalletti on trial? No, the team"

Tuttosport also reports that the retreat Spalletti called after Genoa could go on past the Napoli game. Sky Sport says Ekhator, a striker born in 2006, is back in full training after a long lay-off.

The treatment room

For Napoli, the story is injuries. Sky Sport counts seven players unavailable: Buongiorno, Badiashile, Favasuli, Spinazzola, Lobotka, Neres and Alisson Santos. It also lists Rrahmani as a doubt after he took a blow to the sternum at Monza. Marianucci is ready to replace him. He has only just come back from a long injury picked up in August and has not started a game this season, so the Stadium would be his first start.

The reports on Lobotka differ. Sky Sport says he will be out for two months. Corriere dello Sport says he has a syndesmosis injury, will be out for about six weeks and has already started rehabilitation. The club has not given a recovery time. Corriere dello Sport adds that Neres is trying to be fit for the Lazio game, and that Alisson and Favasuli should return to full training after the international break.

An attacking turn

Corriere dello Sport expects an attacking Napoli built around McTominay, who is still looking for his first goal against Juventus. A DAZN touchline reporter, quoted by Tutto Napoli, goes further and says Allegri has found an "attacking turn". Fans have been arguing about exactly this for weeks. Napoli scored 4 at Monza and 3 against Roma. They also conceded 6 at the Diego Armando Maradona across the Bodø/Glimt and Roma games, which is why some supporters still do not trust the defence.

Off the pitch

Corriere dello Sport reports that Matt Rizzetta is pressing on with his interest in Napoli but has set a deadline: he will decide by early 2027, and he has another option in the city ready in the meantime. La Repubblica says Aurelio De Laurentiis would like Napoli-Lazio moved from 12:30 on Sunday 8 November, but the league is not changing the time for now. TuttoMercatoWeb reports that Napoli are one of 11 Serie A clubs to back Malagò ahead of the 14 December election for president of the FIGC (the Italian football federation), where his opponent is Galliani.

Our view

The papers are right that the pressure on Sunday falls more on the other bench. Treating the match as Spalletti's trial, though, reduces Napoli to extras, and they are not. They go to Turin without Lobotka for weeks, possibly without Rrahmani, with Allegri suspended and a defence that needs patching up. The "attacking turn" DAZN talks about is what the fans have been asking Allegri for, but three games without defeat do not prove the team has changed. None of the papers asks the question that matters to us: who holds the midfield and who defends now.