Napoli vs Juventus preview - Hamsik eyeing scalp

Posted Tuesday, November 29, 2011 by PA

Napoli striker Marek Hamsik is hoping he and his team-mates can rise to the occasion when they host Serie A leaders Juventus.

The game at the San Paolo stadium was due to be played earlier this month but was postponed due to floods in Naples.

Napoli, who have beaten AC Milan, Inter Milan and Manchester City this season, know it will take a monumental effort to stun unbeaten Juve.

"We will need to be at our best to beat Juventus, " Hamsik said.

"We need a perfect team performance, one of those which we have put on in the past.

"And we hardly ever get it wrong against the big clubs."

The hosts go into the encounter nine points behind Juve after their 1-1 draw at Atalanta on Saturday.

Hamsik knows the importance of this game in view of the Scudetto race.

A win for Juve would see the Turin outfit climb four points clear of second-placed Milan, while it would leave Napoli 12 points adrift.

"We are Napoli and we cannot let Juventus run away from us," Hamsik said.

"We know that we will have plenty of support as other teams don't want Juve's lead to grow.

"If they take the advantage then it will be complicated to catch them. We need to beat them."

Juventus travel south on the back of Saturday's 1-0 win at Lazio, courtesy of Simone Pepe's goal.

Antonio Conte's men are unlikely to take Napoli lightly and for good reason. The last time Juve won at the San Paolo stadium in the league was back in the 2000-01 campaign.

"We can expect a very challenging game in Naples," Conte said.

"It will be a big test for us even though it's still early in the campaign.

"We are nevertheless doing better than our initial predictions and this is the result of the good work done by my players."

Juve will have to overcome the absence of pivotal midfielder Claudio Marchisio, who serves a one-match ban. Marchisio has scored five goals in 11 league appearances this season.

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri will be without injured midfielder Marco Donadel.