Juventus’ pursuit of the Serie A top four continues on Sunday as they welcome in-form Hellas Verona to the Allianz Stadium. Coming into this matchday, the Bianconeri sit a point adrift of fourth-placed Atalanta, who also have a game in hand.
Despite failing to unleash a single shot on target at the San Siro last time out, Juventus held Milan to a goalless draw, taking their unbeaten streak in Serie A to nine games (W6, D3). But Massimiliano Allegri’s men should encounter no problems in the front third this weekend after landing the league’s second-highest scorer Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina.
In the meantime, Verona have gone from strength to strength at the beginning of a new calendar year, racking up three wins from four Serie A outings (L1). The visitors head into proceedings as a mid-table team, but a potential success in Turin could spark their hopes of securing a European finish come May.
Juventus vs Hellas Verona Head-to-Head
Juventus must be enthusiastic about exacting revenge on Verona following a 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture back in October, at least based on their H2H record in Turin. The Bianconeri have never lost a Serie A home match against Hellas despite the two sides locking horns as many as 30 times in such contests (W25, D5).
No team has ever faced a particular opposition at home without ever losing in the competition’s history. That, in fact, sums up Juventus’ hopes of returning to winning ways in Serie A in a nutshell. But Verona are unlikely to go down without a fight, as witnessed by their recent exploits against the Turin-based club.
The Gialloblu have not lost any of their last four top-flight encounters against Juventus (W2, D2), restricting the Bianconeri to one goal per game on each occasion. After the abovementioned success in the reverse fixture, Verona could win both seasonal games against Juve for the first time in the top-flight history.
Juventus Preview
Since falling to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Atalanta in late November, Juventus have gone unbeaten in their subsequent four Serie A home outings (W3, D1). Interestingly, each of their three triumphs in that four-game sequence came by an identical 2-0 scoreline, with the Bianconeri scoring one goal apiece either side of half-time.
But while only Napoli (16) and Inter (19) have conceded fewer Serie A goals than Juventus (21) so far this season, Allegri’s men have failed to live up to expectations at the other side of the pitch. The record-time Italian champions have netted just 34 goals after 23 league matches, their worst scoring tally at this stage of the season since 1999/2000.
Vlahovic’s blockbuster arrival in January should address those issues, with the Serbian scoring machine staking his claim for the Golden Boot award. He has scored 17 Serie A goals at Fiorentina, just one less than Lazio talisman Ciro Immobile.
Hellas Verona Preview
Verona came from behind to beat Bologna 2-1 on the stroke of January’s international break, making it two Serie A triumphs on the trot. Another success here would see the Gialloblu win three consecutive games in Italy’s top-flight for the first time since October 2013.
Notably, Verona have already registered 43 goals after 23 Serie A fixtures this season, their best scoring record at this stage of a top-flight campaign. They have averaged 1.81 goals per league match away from home, showing they could do plenty of harm to Juventus if allowed enough space.
With headline performer Giovanni Simeone ruled out with a yellow-card suspension, Nikola Kalinic could lead the line for Verona. The Croatian striker has clocked up four Serie A goals against Juventus, and he could be a genuine threat alongside Gianluca Caprari.
Juventus vs Hellas Verona Head-to-Head
Juventus (4-4-2): Wojciech Szczesny, Juan Cuadrado, Matthijs de Ligt, Giorgio Chiellini, Mattia De Sciglio, Federico Bernardeschi, Adrien Rabiot, Weston McKennie, Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata, Dusan Vlahovic.
Hellas Verona (3-4-2-1): Lorenzo Montipo, Federico Ceccherini, Koray Gunter, Nicolo Casale, Davide Faraoni, Adrien Tameze, Miguel Veloso, Darko Lazovic, Antonin Barak, Gianluca Caprari, Nikola Kalinic.