Napoli hopes they have indeed pulled the correct lever as Francesco Calzona, their third manager of the season, leads the Partenopei in his first home match in charge, hosting Juventus at the Maradona on Sunday.
Calzona replaced the sacked Walter Mazzarri last week, who had only been installed three months prior after the departure of Rudi Garcia. The managerial turmoil comes as Napoli looks to turn around their woeful title defense, wholly unable to recapture the magic of last season's historic Scudetto run.
However, there are signs of hope as Calzona, who is serving double duty as he also remains in charge of the Slovakian national team, achieved a 1-1 draw in his debut against Barcelona in the Champions League. Napoli then drew 1-1 with Cagliari on the road before exploding to life at Sassuolo where they pulverized their opponents 6-1 on a hat-trick from Victor Osimhen and two more off the feet of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Juventus are also hoping to have turned things around, as a recent slide sees the Old Lady slide a seemingly insurmountable 12 points back of leaders Inter in the Serie A title race. With a feeling of inevitability to that gap, Juve will now look to fend off those below them, sitting four points above third-placed AC Milan but having just one of their last five games.
USA: Click here to see the latest odds for Napoli vs Juventus and bet Serie A matches
Napoli vs Juventus prediction, odds
- Moneyline lean: Draw (+200)
- Score prediction: Napoli 1-1 Juventus
There are significant unknowns on both sides for this match. With Napoli, the unknown of the new manager will make it difficult to judge what the hosts will have in this match, whether they will continue their blistering early form from last game's 6-1 explosion, or if they will revert back to their consistent home struggles.
From a Juventus perspective, the visitors will be without two of their most in-form midfielders, as Adrien Rabiot and Weston McKennie have both been critical to their success this season. Both are out injured with a dislocated finger and shoulder respectively, and the options behind the pair present far less promise.
Given this, the moneyline may not be the best play in this match, and a draw is a reasonable outcome to expect. Between Napoli's seemingly renewed form under new management and Juve's recent struggles, the betting market expects a home result, and it would seem reasonable to lean that way on plus odds you're inclined to pick one side or the other.
| DraftKings (USA) |
|
| Napoli win | +135 |
| Draw | +200 |
| Juventus win | +205 |
| Both teams to score Y/N |
-105 / -120 |
| Over / Under 2.5 goals |
+130 / -185 |
| Napoli -0.5 goals |
+140 |
| Juventus +0.5 goals |
-175 |
Napoli vs Juventus match facts
- Date: Sunday, March 3, 2024
- Kickoff Time: 8:45 p.m. local (3:45 p.m. ET / 12:45 p.m. PT)
- Location: Diego Maradona Stadium (Naples, Italy)
- Referee: Maurizio Mariani
- Last meeting: Juventus 1-0 Napoli (Dec. 8, 2023 | Serie A)
Napoli vs Juventus: best bet
- Pick: Most goals in half — 2H
- Odds: -105 (DraftKings)
These two teams love playing close games with late drama, and that should be the case again here. It should be a low-scoring affair, but the betting market (somewhat surprisingly, given both sides' recent form) expects as much, and so there's less value on the under than expected.
These clubs have played to 1-0 results each of the last two times they've met, with both goals coming after halftime, and expanded to their last six matchups, 10 of the 16 goals scored have come following the break.
Both of these clubs skew heavily towards the second half in terms of attacking output, amongst the top five in Serie A for goals after the break but ranking eighth and ninth prior.
Napoli vs Juventus prop bet
- Pick: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to score or assist a goal
- Odds: +140 (FanDuel)
Just as Napoli have failed to recreate last season's magic, their Georgian star has also succumbed to a sophomore slump at the Italian side. Yet a deeper look shows that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has lost little of his creative juice, only betrayed by poor teammate finishing and difficult optics amidst a difficult campaign for the club on the whole.
Nobody in the Italian top flight was due an assist more than Kvaratskhelia, who finally broke a bonkers 17-match streak in Serie A without one in the 6-1 explosion last time out. During that span, Kvara delivered 30 key passes worth a combined 2.45 xA without return. Against Sassuolo, with a new manager at the helm, Kvara amassed nine shots and five key passes, collecting two goals and an assist in the process.
Kvara has a goal and two assists in three matches against Juve, all coming in his debut against the Old Lady, but he was excellent in their 1-0 win in Turin last year as well, and was Napoli's only attacking outlet in the defeat earlier this season. It's frustrating that this selection doesn't sport a higher return, given the market's astute expectation of a low-scoring match presents more risk on goal scorer options, but this feels too much like Kvara's time to shy away.
Napoli vs Juventus live stream, TV channel
| Territory | TV channel | Streaming |
| USA | — | Paramount+ |
| UK | TNT Sports 1 | discovery+ |
| Canada | TLN | Fubo Canada |
Every single match of the 2023/24 Serie A season can be found in the United States on Paramount+ who have exclusive broadcast rights to the Italian top flight.
Serie A matches can be seen in Canada all season long on Fubo, the nation's leading streaming service for world-class soccer. Additionally, this match is part of the three-game slate each week televised in Canada on TLN. Sunday's match will be shown in the UK on TNT Sports 1, with streaming on discovery+.
