Claudio Marchisio says Juventus will be out to overturn an unfavourable record on Neapolitan soil when they run out against the Partenopei in Sunday night’s blockbuster Serie A clash.

With the visitors’ last win in Naples coming all the way back in 2000, the midfielder is expecting another tricky test at the weekend against a side who have lost just one of their last 14 matches.

But Marchisio claims there is no shortage of determination in the camp to bring this barren spell to an end come Sunday night.

Speaking to Sky Sport, the 28-year-old began: “It’s always difficult to play at the San Paolo and it’s been a long time since we last won there. Napoli are a great team, but we want to buck the trend and are ready to go for the win.”

Juventus travel to Naples looking to return to winning ways after a midweek draw against Inter enabled nearest challengers Roma to make up ground in the race for this season’s Scudetto.

But with the reigning champions top of the pile in Serie A and through to the last-16 of the Champions League, Marchisio remains surprised by media talk of a crisis in the Bianconeri camp.

“We’re always spoken about and that’s a good thing because we’re clearly out at the top and enjoying a great season. It’s true that we could have handled certain games in a better fashion, but any talk about physical or psychological problems is truly wide of the mark – we’ve always crossed the white line with the right attitude and always put in the hard yards. There are bits and pieces to improve, but thankfully we’ve currently got the time to work on them.

“During a season there are moments in which a team goes through peaks and troughs, but when you play such important games as the one against Napoli, everything that came before goes out the window, because you’re always psychologically fired up for the encounter.”

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Paolo Tagliavento will run the rule over the Bianconeri’s first Serie A away encounter of 2015, against Napoli at the San Paolo on Sunday evening.

The 42-year-old, who hails from Terni in Umbria, is to preside over his 21st fixture involving Juventus in Italy’s top flight, having previously overseen seven victories, five draws and eight defeats in that time.

It won’t be the first time Tagliavento has refereed a meeting between Sunday’s opponents – he was in charge of a 3-3 draw at the San Paolo on 29 November 2011. Napoli’s goals came from Marek Hamsik and a Goran Pandev brace whilst Alessandro Matri, Marcelo Estigarribia and Simone Pepe were all on the scoresheet for the Bianconeri.

Tagliavento will be flanked in Naples by assistant referees Di Liberatore and Passeri, goal-line officials Damato and Calvarese and fourth official Costanzo.