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It's been a rough week for Juventus, and the timing couldn't be much worse for the bianconeri. The defending champs appear to be in the midst of a budding injury crisis, just in time for Napoli to come into town for a vital match that will be key to the title race at the end of the season.
This past weekend forced them to add key defender Giorgio Chiellini to the injury list after suffering an muscular injury that will keep him out for three weeks. He joins a list that includes Martin Caceres, who ruptured his Achilles tendon a week ago, and Sami Khedira, who suffered an abductor muscle injury and has been out for several weeks.
There is apparently a chance that Khedira could be fit to play as he's trying to be available for the game, but Max Allegri has indicated that the German midfielder will only play if he's 100% fit. If he's not, it will noticeably weaken Juventus' midfield, forcing Claudio Marchisio and Paul Pogba to spend more time defending than they usually have been in Juve's long winning streak.
Do these injuries mean that Napoli will automatically win the match? No, of course not. Juventus are incredibly talented all across the field, and the partenopei will still have to fight like hell to get three points. But this does mean that Napoli will have something of an easier time, especially with Juve missing arguably their two most impactful defenders this season.