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At 3:45 a.m. Beijing time on January 7, a focus battle in the 20th round of Serie A was contested, with Juventus facing Napoli at home. Juventus has had a poor record in the league this season, with only 10 wins, 4 draws and 5 defeats in the first 19 league games, which is not a small gap with Inter Milan Raqqa at the top of the table. However, Juventus have won 4 wins and 1 draw in their last 5 league games, which has allowed the team to close the gap with the top 4 teams. The match against Napoli was crucial for Juventus, having met in the 3rd round when Juventus lost away to Napoli. Again, Juventus were eager to avenge their opponents, but Juventus only got a draw.
Juventus lined up in a 433 formation for the match. Szczesny served as the starting goalkeeper. Cuadrado, Rugani, De Ligt and Sandro are paired at 4-back. McKennie, Rockerley and Rabio make up three midfielders. Federico Chiesa, Morata and Bernardeschi's attacking combination joined forces. Napoli, on the other hand, had a 4231 formation, with Mertens, Insigne, Zelinski and Politano starting out.
As the game began, Juventus quickly got into form and launched an onslaught, with McKenny, Rabio and Little Chiesa scoring shots in quick succession, but didn't score. Napoli played for 10 minutes before gradually getting into shape, and shooting opportunities followed, including Mertens who seized the opportunity to score in the 22nd minute to give Napoli the lead. The battle between the two sides was very fierce, and at the end of the half, Juventus fell behind 0-1. Juventus had 49.8 percent possession in the first half, with 11 shots on target and one shot on target, failing to get into the box. Napoli also scored 11 shots on goal in the first half, 2 shots on target, and scored 1 goal.
After the start of the second half, it was still Juve who took the lead in the form, and unlike the previous half, Juve seized the opportunity to score by Chiesa Jr. The goal brought both sides back to the same running line. The game was more open for some time after that, but neither side scored another goal. After the 65th minute, Napoli were physically affected and failed to create decent chances, while Juventus, despite a few chances, did not translate into goals. The final score was set at 1-1! Such a score is completely acceptable for Napoli, after all, it is away to a team like Juventus. Allegri changed five players in this game and did not win the game. Juve are 11 points behind top Inter, and Inter are one game less than Juve.
In this game, Juventus scored 22 shots on goal, 5 shots on target and scored 1 goal. Napoli, on the other hand, scored 16 shots on goal and 4 on target, but also failed to score. In the post-match whoscored rating, Chiesa Jr. scored a game-high 8.1 points, he scored 1 goal on 8 shots, 3 shots on target. He also had 4 steals, 2 key passes and 2 interceptions. He's done well on both ends of the board.