By Tommy Lund
(Reuters) – Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri will be hoping his team’s recent Serie A slump is a blip rather than a sign they are slipping out of the race for the top six when they host runaway leaders Napoli on Sunday.
Allegri’s seventh-placed side have lost ground on the European places in the last two weeks after back-to-back defeats to Lazio and Sassuolo and are up against a Napoli team that will be smarting from their Champions League exit.
Juve are awaiting a ruling by Italy’s top sports body over the club’s appeal against a decision by soccer authorities to dock them 15 points this season following an investigation into the club’s transfer dealings.
If their appeal succeeded and the points penalty was cancelled, they would jump to third on 59 points.
Napoli have one win in their last five games, a run that includes league and Champions League defeats to AC Milan, and are winless in their last three games in all competitions.
They head to Turin with injury doubts over several players, including Mario Rui, Amir Rrahmani and Matteo Politano, while forward Giovanni Simeone is out with a thigh injury, but they can take comfort in their 14-point cushion over second-placed Lazio.
Lazio will be the first of the top teams in action when they host 11th-placed Torino on Saturday.
Maurizio Sarri’s men have cemented their hold on second place in recent weeks with four wins in a row and are currently five points ahead of AS Roma in third.
Lazio will most likely be without Ciro Immobile after the striker fractured his rib and hurt his back in a car crash in Rome on Sunday. Sarri will also be without suspended midfielder Danilo Cataldi.
Roma, who have tightened their grip on third place by opening up a three-point gap on AC Milan in fourth with three wins in a row, travel to an Atalanta side desperate to get back on track after two defeats and a draw in their past five matches.
Simone Inzaghi’s fifth-placed Inter Milan take on an Empoli side that beat them 1-0 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, while AC Milan host Lecce.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Toby Davis)
