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• Massimiliano Allegri demands big push for points before halfway mark in Serie A

  Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has challenged his players to rectify the club’s wretched recent results against rivals Napoli to move top of the Serie A table.

  Juve have lost five of their past seven league meetings with the reigning champions, including a 5-1 thrashing in January, but are favourites for Friday evening’s clash at Allianz Stadium.

  The in-form Bianconeri sit second in the table and will climb above leaders Inter Milan for at least 24 hours by registering an 11th victory of the season.

  Fifth-placed Napoli are struggling to mount a title defence and, having last month reappointed former boss Walter Mazzarri after sacking Rudi Garcia, slipped 11 points adrift of Inter following a 3-0 home loss to them on Sunday.

  “Tomorrow will be very tough,” Allegri told a press conference.

  “Napoli stayed in the game against Inter until the second goal and we’ve only beaten them once in our last seven meetings – that’s something we need to put right.

  “They’re a dangerous side away from home and have picked up 17 points on the road already.”

  Juventus are just two points behind Inter, with whom they drew 1-1 on November 26, following a nine-match unbeaten run.

  Allegri wants a minimum of six points from Juve’s next five fixtures to ensure the club reach the halfway point of the campaign in a stronger position than last term.

  “This is a six-pointer – we have five games left before we reach the midway point of the season and they’ll all be difficult,” said Allegri, whose side finished a disappointing 2022-23 campaign in seventh position.

  “Our target is to finish the first half of the campaign with more points than we did last term, when we had 38.

  “We hope to achieve our target but we mustn’t take it for granted.

  “Part of this job involves dealing with the pressure but we have to remember the league doesn’t finish tomorrow. There’s still a long way to go.”

  Mazzarri, who initially managed Napoli between 2009 and 2013, beat Atalanta 2-1 in the first match of his second spell before the resounding loss to Inter.

  The 62-year-old hopes his team can kick-start a revival by beating one of their fiercest rivals.

  “Juventus v Napoli is a match that we know well because of the special sensations it generates and the importance of two teams that have been protagonists of the championship in recent years,” he told a press conference.

  “We are playing against an opponent who is doing very well and there is little to add about the depth of the match.

  “We go there as Italian champions and we want to highlight the progress that the boys are making.

  “If we look at the squads, I don’t think there is as much of a difference as the league table says. This is also true compared to Inter.

  “Unfortunately in football there are also moments and this is not a brilliant period for Napoli, especially in relation to the great last season.

  “In football sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a change, it’s a question of trust but also of luck.

  “There are moments which are going badly but a positive episode can change the wind.”

• Chiellini loving Los Angeles life as Italy great sets sights on MLS Cup triumph

  Giorgio Chiellini has discovered a new love for football with Los Angeles FC as the Italian centre-back aims to guide his side to a second straight MLS Cup triumph.

  The Columbus Crew will prove the final obstacle on Saturday in LAFC's quest to go back-to-back with MLS Cup successes, having defeated the Philadelphia Union on penalties in last season's final.

  Chiellini has lifted nine Serie A titles and helped Italy win Euro 2020, but the hunger remains for the 39-year-old to add another success in the United States to his trophy-filled cabinet.

  "I'm enjoying every day I spend here – training and everything," the former Juventus defender, who joined LAFC in 2022, told Stats Perform.

  "It's my life. I love what I do. I've watched more MLS games this year and a half than most of my team-mates in their career and I love that.

  "But it's not something I do for me. It's something normal. It's my way of life, this job, I live this life. I'm enjoying it a lot and there's no heavy situation for me about this stuff, I just enjoy it and it's very fun."

  Chiellini created the opening goal as Los Angeles booked their place in the MLS Cup Final with a 2-0 win over Houston Dynamo, with his flick-on from a corner-kick finding Ryan Hollingshead.

  Their final challenge comes against the Crew in what will be the 53rd game of the season for Steve Cherundolo's LAFC, who were knocked out of the Leagues Cup in the quarter-final and suffered CONCACAF Champions League final heartbreak against Mexico's Club Leon.

  Columbus' Lower.com Field hosts the MLS Cup showpiece, offering Wilfried Nancy's men an edge of home advantage, but Chiellini fancies Los Angeles' chances after two hard-fought campaigns.

  "We are so happy because last year was a different journey," the veteran centre-back continued. "We were top of the league all season, playoffs for just three games before the World Cup. That was easier.

  "We skipped the first round. We played all the games at home and it was very different. This year we pushed harder until June because of the CONCACAF Champions League where we lost the final.

  "We spent a lot of energy on that, we had some injuries, some periods where we were not so focused.

  "But we arrived in good condition for the playoff in the third game [against Houston]. We fought till the end for the second [goal] that I think we deserved for what we showed during the season.

  "We won in Vancouver, we won in Seattle, and now to lift the cup, we have to win in Columbus, and we know how hard it will be, but we are very happy to be here.

  "We respect that team a lot and the way they play, that style of play, the players, but for sure we want to go there and try to go as far as possible to win."

• England call would be realisation of childhood dream for Spurs’ Ashleigh Neville

  Tottenham full-back Ashleigh Neville will forever be proud of fulfilling one lifelong goal but has not yet given up hope of achieving a dream England call-up.

  It was only four years ago that Neville quit her teaching job in Birmingham to concentrate fully on football after Spurs’ promotion to the Women’s Super League.

  Fast forward to the present and Neville has become one of the division’s most consistent performers, despite playing across numerous positions and amid a rollercoaster period for Tottenham.

  Neville played a key role in Spurs’ fifth-place finish in 2022 but still missed out on Sarina Wiegman’s England squad for the Euros and, while her club battled relegation last season, the 30-year-old’s performances remained excellent.

  Wiegman acknowledged 12 months ago that Neville was doing a “really good job”, but the emergence of Chelsea’s Niamh Charles alongside system tweaks and forward Rachel Daly being used as a makeshift left-back has meant she remains uncapped.

  Nevertheless, Neville is full of pride at being in her fifth season as a full-time professional and relishing life under new Tottenham boss Robert Vilahamn.

  “I always wanted to play for England,” Neville told the PA news agency ahead of next week’s north London derby with Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

  “That was kind of my dream when I was a kid, but I never thought I would play professional football when I was a young girl because it wasn’t possible back then.

  “I am obviously proud of where I have come from and where I’m at.

  “Since Robert’s come in, it has probably been the most consistent I have been as a player looking back at stats and games.

  “If that call-up comes, it comes, and it would be nice to play for my country, but we have a great team so I can’t really fault the (England) girls for what they do.

  “I am just happy at Spurs and that’s where my head and focus is at, but if that call comes then great.”

  Neville impressed during Tottenham’s battle to stay in the WSL last season, scoring three times and providing two assists while playing in both full-back positions or further forward under ex-boss Rehanne Skinner.

  Vilahamn’s arrival this summer has resulted in a shift of philosophy, with Spurs eager to dominate possession and attack at every opportunity.

  It helped Vilahamn make a flying start, but sixth-placed Tottenham suffered a chastening second defeat of the season before the international break when they went down 7-0 at Manchester City.

  Neville said: “We spoke at the end of the game and a few people were disheartened, which I understand because no one likes losing and especially not when it’s 7-0, but I said in the huddle this won’t define our season.

  “It is one game out of the eight we’ve played and we’ve had a really good start. We can’t sit on it. We have to park it and move on and that’s what the girls are ready to do.”

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  Life does not get any easier for Spurs with Manchester United coming up at home on Sunday before two fixtures with Arsenal next week.

  The second date with Arsenal on Saturday, December 16 will take place at the men’s 62,850-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

  “When I first came here, this match wasn’t necessarily a big thing for the women’s team,” Neville reflected.

  “I think we have come a long way since then.

  “I can remember the first game we played with Arsenal (in 2019), we lost 10-0 and then the season before last we got a draw and had a close game.

  “So it will be a really good game and I love the north London derby. They are a battle, but I am all about putting in a big tackle and playing in front of a big crowd so it’s great for the game.

  “All the girls believe. People say we’re the underdogs, but I don’t look at us like that. We are just as good as Arsenal.”