Underperforming Juventus will be desperate to return to winning ways in Serie A when they take on Hellas Verona at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi. It’s time to preview the game and take a look at the expected lineups.
Verona’s decision to sack Eusebio Di Francesco and move in the direction of Igor Tudor after just three Serie A rounds have turned their fortunes around almost instantaneously. Hellas’ top-half prospects will be on the line here as they seek another upset after overcoming both Rome-based clubs this season.
Meanwhile, Juventus’ inability to establish any form of consistency in the early exchanges has witnessed the newest episode. When it seemed like Massimiliano Allegri’s men were on their way to returning in contention for the Serie A title, another rough patch has curtailed their momentum. So there is no margin for error here.
Verona vs Juventus Head-to-Head
Juventus have failed to beat Hellas Verona in any of their last three Serie A meetings (D2, L1), playing out a pair of 1-1 draws in 2020/21. Only against Atalanta do they have an equally long ongoing winless run in the competition.
Adding to Verona’s hopes of staging an upset here, they have won two of their last four Serie A home matches against Juve (D1, L1), as many victories as they had in their nine home league encounters against them beforehand (D4, L3).
Despite their recent H2H form wobble, the Bianconeri have been regular on the scoresheet against this opposition, having found the net in 16 consecutive Serie A clashes against Verona. That’s the kind of statistic Allegri will be looking to dwell on ahead of this trip.
Verona Form Preview
Antonin Barak’s 83rd-minute penalty handed Hellas Verona a 1-1 draw at Udinese in midweek, extending their form inconsistency. None of their last five Serie A fixtures have yielded the same result as the previous one (W2, D2, L1), though a high-scoring theme remains a common denominator.
The Gialloblu have been one of the most exciting sides to watch in Serie A this season as seven of their ten league matches so far have seen 4+ goals and both teams on the scoresheet. However, after registering 77.78% of their Serie A home goals conceded this season beyond half-time (7/9), Verona will be keen to improve upon their second-half defending here.
An encouraging sign has been Verona’s never-give-up mentality. Tudor’s men have picked themselves up on several occasions this term to avoid defeat in 50% of the Serie A games in which they conceded the opening goal (W1, D1, L2). Under the Croat’s stewardship, they have scored a league-high 19 goals in just seven Serie A fixtures.
Player to watch: Giovanni Simeone
Inspired by his outrageous performance against Lazio last weekend that saw them net four times in Verona’s 4-1 home win, Giovanni Simeone will be looking to maintain his scoring form here.
Interestingly, Simeone’s first Serie A brace arrived against Juventus of all teams back in 2016 during his career at Genoa. The son of the legendary Atletico Madrid manager Diego has bagged more goals only against Lazio and Torino in the competition.
Juventus Form Preview
Juventus have performed in patches this season, which is why they enter this round trailing top-placed duo, Napoli and Milan, by a staggering 13 points. After a sluggish start to this Serie A campaign that had seen them go winless in their first four league matches (D2, L2), the Bianconeri won four straight games spanning between mid-September and mid-October.
However, a new dip in form has witnessed Allegri’s side fail to win their last two Serie A fixtures (D1, L1), including a 2-1 home defeat to Sassuolo in midweek. And while they’ve recently mastered the ability to hold onto a lead, the Turin heavyweights have developed a habit of falling behind without recovering.
Indeed, Juventus have lost two of the three Serie A matches when conceding first this season. The solitary exception in that run was last weekend’s 1-1 away draw with Inter Milan that saw VAR award them a late penalty. Paulo Dybala’s spot-kick in that encounter means Juve have scored in each of their last nine Serie A away games.
Player to watch: Paulo Dybala
Dybala has once again grown into Juventus’ headline performer, particularly in light of Cristiano Ronaldo’s summer return to Manchester United. The Argentine has tallied three goals and three assists in Serie A thus far despite enduring a somewhat injury-riddled start to the season.
Additionally, Dybala has scored three of Juventus’ last six Serie A goals at Bentegodi, with Ronaldo and Blaise Matuidi notching up the remaining three.
Verona vs Juventus Predicted Lineups
Verona (3-4-2-1): Lorenzo Montipò; Federico Ceccherini, Giangiacomo Magnani, Bosko Sutalo; Darko Lazovic, Martin Hongla, Miguel Veloso, Adrien Tameze; Antonin Barak, Kevin Lasagna; Giovanni Simeone.
Juventus (4-4-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Juan Cuadrado, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Federico Chiesa, Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, Dejan Kulusevski; Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata.