On January 6, Serie A clubs will kick off their second half of the season with an exciting round.

Nevertheless, with the latest Covid-19 variant spreading all around the globe, this matchday will be anything but usual.

For Juventus, their absentee list will include club captain Giorgio Chiellini, Arthur, Carlo Pinsoglio and youngster Koni De Winter all of whom tested positive upon their return from the holidays.

Moreover, Danilo remains unavailable due to injury.

However, Max Allegri can still count himself lucky in comparison to his next opponent, Luciano Spalletti.

The Napoli manager will make the trip to Turin without a host of key players, as reported by Tuttosport via ilBianconero.

First of all, the Pertenopei will miss Elif Elmas, Hirving Lozano and Victor Osimhen, as all three tested positive for Covid-19.

On another front, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Kalidou Koulibaly and Adam Ounas will join their national teams for the African Cup of Nations which kicks off on January 9.

Additionally, Kevin Malcuit, Marui Rui and Andrea Petagna will be unavailable due to suspensions.

Finally, Fabian Ruiz and Lorenzo Insigne have recovered from Covid, but their conditions will be monitored ahead of the match as they had been out with injuries last month, and thus, their fitness levels remains in doubt.

This surely isn’t the first time when a similar situation occurs ahead of an encounter between these two rivals.

Last season, a major controversy ensued when the local authorities prevented Napoli from travelling to Turin due to two positive cases.

Earlier this season, Allegri had to do without his South American players who returned late from international duty.