Desperate to redeem themselves to the fans after taking them through an emotional meltdown in midweek, Juventus play host to Serie A basement boys Salernitana on Sunday. Back to domestic action, the hosts will have a point to prove at the Allianz Stadium.
Juventus can switch their attention back to domestic proceedings following another disappointing Champions League season. After a 1-1 draw away to Villarreal in the first leg of their last-16 tie, Massimiliano Allegri’s side fell to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at home in midweek.
But while Juve’s pursuit of Champions League glory came to another premature end, the Bianconeri still hold faint hopes of dethroning Inter this season. Still, following Milan’s narrow 1-0 win at Cagliari last night, the record-time Italian champions to restore a seven-point deficit going into March’s international break.
Standing in their way will be a Salernitana side that have enjoyed an upturn in form following a dreadful first half of the season. After going unbeaten in five of their last six Serie A outings (D5, L1), Davide Nicola’s men are heading to Turin in high spirits.
Salernitana currently trail 17th-placed Cagliari by a whopping nine points, but with three games in hand, including this one, that gap looks bridgeable. However, the Granata have to start winning and quickly.
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Juventus
Despite experiencing another underwhelming Champions League knock-out exit, Juventus are flying high in Serie A. Since falling to a 1-0 home defeat to Atalanta in November, Allegri’s men have gone undefeated in their last 15 league games (W10, D5), winning three on the trot in the build-up to this fixture.
Juventus will take the field as odds-on favourites to keep their eye-catching unbeaten run going, especially considering their ruthless recent record against starting the day in the relegation zone. The Bianconeri have not lost any of their last 32 Serie A meetings with relegation-battling opponents (W28, D4) since going down 2-1 to Hellas Verona in May 2016.
Juventus lost 1-0 to newly-promoted Empoli at the Allianz Stadium back in September and could suffer two home defeats against promoted clubs for the first time in the club’s history. Allegri will turn to Dusan Vlahovic to prevent any potential upset, with the Serbian prodigy netting 20 goals this Serie A season, only two fewer than the entire Salernitana squad altogether.
Salernitana
Salernitana bounced back from a thumping 5-0 defeat at the hands of Juventus’ bitter rivals Inter by coming from behind to hold Sassuolo to a ‘goal-friendly’ 2-2 draw last time out. Curiously, after losing 17 of their opening 21 Serie A fixtures this season (W3, D1), the Granata have only lost once in their last six league outings (D5).
But despite sparking Salernitana’s fighting spirits since taking charge in February, new manager Nicola has yet to address his side’s defensive woes. The Campanian minnows have failed to keep a clean sheet in 26 of their 27 Serie A matches this season, including the last 20 in a row.
Indeed, no team has conceded more Serie A goals than Salernitana (63) this season, as they came into this matchday as the only side to have shipped 60+ goals in Italy’s top-flight thus far. With each of their last three league visits to current top-eight teams seeing them let in 4+ goals, the visitors could have another long Sunday afternoon.
Juventus vs Salernitana Predicted Lineups
Juventus Potential Starting (4-4-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Alex Sandro, Matthijs de Ligt, Daniele Rugani, Danilo; Adrien Rabiot, Moise Kean, Arthur, Juan Cuadrado; Alvaro Morata, Dusan Vlahovic.
Salernitana Potential Starting (4-2-3-1): Vid Belec; Radu Dragușin, Norbert Gyomber, Federico Fazio, Nadir Zortea; Ivan Radovanovic, Lassana Coulibaly, Grigoris Kastanos, Luca Ranieri, Simone Verdi; Milan Duric.
Juventus vs Salernitana Prediction
Anything other than Juventus’ overwhelming triumph would be a massive upset for an already devastated Turin faithful. Going up against arguably the weakest team in the league is the best opportunity Allegri’s bunch will get to recover from another Champions League shock.
Juventus eased past Salernitana 2-0 in the reverse fixture in Campania, but we back the Bianconeri to land a bigger winning margin here. After all, they have no more reasons to take their foot off the gas.
Predicted Scoreline: Juventus 4-0 Salernitana