Serie A Gameweek 2 rounds off at Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi with an exciting clash between Hellas Verona and Juventus. Both teams got the new season off to a flying start, meaning another top-flight side will lose grip on a perfect league record on Monday.
Netting three unanswered second-half goals against the odds saw Verona hand new Napoli manager Antonio Conte the worst possible debut last week. Dailon Livramento’s opener, followed by Daniel Mosquera’s double, inspired the Gialloblu to a memorable 3-0 home win on the opening weekend.
It was the best way for the new man in charge to make amends for an underwhelming 2-1 Coppa Italia defeat to second-tier Cesena. Back to Serie A after a less impressive stint at Empoli, Paolo Zanetti looks keen to lead Verona to a less stressful league campaign after they finished only three points clear of the bottom three last term.
However, Zanetti’s ambitious hopes face a formidable challenge with a new-look Juventus rolling into town. Like his Verona counterpart, Thiago Motta enjoyed a stellar touchline debut on week one as the Bianconeri dismantled newly-promoted Como 3-0 in Turin last Monday.
Prodigious forward Samuel Mbangula ran the show at the Allianz Stadium with a goal and an assist. Timothy Weah and Andrea Cambiaso joined the youngster on the scoresheet to propel Juventus to a much-needed winning start to the new league campaign.
After a promising start, Juventus cannot afford to take their feet off the gas if they look to end a four-year title drought in Serie A.
Match Preview
Hellas Verona
Verona defied the odds against Napoli, and it’s hard to put it past them to pull off another upset. Despite their relatively underwhelming home league record last season (W6, D6, L7), the Gialloblu fared outstandingly well against the best Serie A clubs at Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.
They only lost two home matches against the division’s eventual top five (D3), suggesting they will not go down without a fight. Adding to this sentiment, Verona held Juventus winless in this corresponding fixture last term, managing a 2-2 draw in February.
Nonetheless, there’s still that irresistible sense of uncertainty surrounding this Verona side. Their last four home league outings have alternated between different outcomes (W2, D1, L1), making it impossible for their fans to guess which version of their team they’d get on a given day.
Juventus
Motta’s side made light work of Como last weekend, but that was barely a novelty to Juventus supporters. They’ve got used to Bianconeri’s strong league starts, as it was their third consecutive 3-0 win at the beginning of a new Serie A season.
However, recent history can hardly fill the visitors with confidence. Juventus followed a thumping day-one victory with a draw in round two in both previous campaigns. It’s up to Motta to buck that trend and prove he can guide the record-time Italian champions to Serie A glory.
That’s not a simple task. Juventus notoriously struggled on their travels in the second half of last season, failing to pick up three points on eight consecutive Serie A road trips (D5, L3). It was back in January when they last won a league game away from home, beating Lecce 3-0.
Team News
Except for Juan Manuel Cruz and Suat Serdar, Verona will have the remainder of their squad fit for this mouth-watering encounter. After scoring twice off the bench on his Serie A debut, Mosquera could dislodge Benfica loanee Casper Tengstedt from the starting XI.
As for Juventus, Khephren Thuram and Weah have joined Arkadiusz Milik in the treatment room, shortening Motta’s options. Filip Kostic and Federico Chiesa are up for sale and, therefore, omitted from the squad. Douglas Luiz and Cambiaso could fill the vacancies.
Hellas Verona vs Juventus Potential Line-ups
Hellas Verona (4-2-3-1): Lorenzo Montipo; Jackson Tchatchoua, Diego Coppola, Pawel Dawidowicz, Martin Frese; Reda Belahyane, Ondrej Duda; Dailon Livramento, Abdou Harroui, Darko Lazovic; Daniel Mosquera.
Juventus (4-2-3-1): Michele Di Gregorio; Danilo, Federico Gatti, Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal; Manuel Locatelli, Douglas Luiz; Andrea Cambiaso, Kenan Yildiz, Samuel Mbangoula; Dusan Vlahovic.
Hellas Verona vs Juventus Prediction
Juventus head into proceedings as favorites, but won’t be a walk in the park for Motta’s charges. Verona looked coherent and confident against Napoli, and if they can replicate their performance, they might take a point here.
But we’d stick with the visitors’ narrow win, nonetheless.
Prediction: Juventus to Win
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