Juventus projected lineup for clash with Napoli for 1st place.

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TURIN, ITALY – AUGUST 25: Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus competes for the ball with Ciro Immobile of SS Lazio during the serie A match between Juventus and SS Lazio on August 25, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) /

GK: Wojciech Szczesny

Mattia Perin played well in his first appearance on Wednesday, but Szczesny locked this spot down last Wednesday. His penalty save against Valencia cemented him in this starting role even though it didn’t actually have all that much impact in the final outcome of the match. You could see just how important the clean sheet he preserved was to the team in the passionate celebration after the save. He has been mostly mistake free in his 7 appearances this season and until he makes costly mistake he will be Juve’s starting keeper in these big matches.

CB: Giorgio Chiellini

This will be the most important match that Giorgio Chiellini dons the captain’s armband for in this half of the season. Napoli’s attack is as potent as ever right now and they appear to peaking at just the right time for this match. Chiellini will need to keep the back line organized and will need to put on his best individual performance of the year to slow down Arkadiusz Milik who has already scored 3 goals this season, including a brace in his last match. Chiellini has always put on his best performances in the big matches and Juve will need him to play at his best in this match.

CB: Leonardo Bonucci

Matches like these are why Leonardo Bonucci is back in a Juve jersey this season. Napoli is the first truly elite opponent that Juve will face off with this season and to combat it Juve will need the Bonucci-Chiellini pairing to be as formidable as it was 2 seasons ago. During Juve’s 6 year run that included a Scudetto every season and 2 Champions League finals in 3 year this pairing was able to slow down impressive attacks like Real Madrid’s, Barcelona’s, and Monaco’s. This pairing returning to that level of performance will make Juve a tough out all year long, even against the best of the best.

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