Who will blink first: Napoli or Juventus?
milan — The Serie A title race appears to have become a simple matter of who will blink first: Napoli or Juventus.
Napoli have held a one-point lead over the Turin side since going top on Dec. 16 and neither team has shown any sign of giving way, with both winning their last nine league games.
For the last four weekends, Juventus have played first, won their game to go top for a few hours before being overhauled again.
Chasing a seventh successive title, Juventus will have another chance to draw first blood this weekend when they host Atalanta on Sunday evening while Napoli will have to wait until Monday for their visit to struggling Cagliari.
The titleholders also play first in the following three rounds of matches — much to the displeasure of Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri who said in January that Serie A had committed a “gigantic mistake” in compiling the fixture list.
Sarri believes that Juventus gain a psychological advantage from the order of play.
Serie A have said that their hands have been tied by the calendar as they have to tread around Coppa Italia, Champions League and Europa League fixtures.
With eight more rounds of matches to play before a potentially decisive clash between the pair in Turin on April 22, the question is how long can both keep winning.
Both look comfortable favourites to make it 10 in a row at the weekend, but there is the potential for slipups on March 3 when Napoli host third-placed Roma and Juventus visit fourth-placed Lazio. —