Juventus are looking to stay in the race for the Serie A title on Saturday, and stand a good chance of doing so as they host bottom of the table Venezia.
Though the Old Lady are unbeaten in 15 league games this season, nine of their results have been draws, which remarkably places them down in sixth, seven points adrift of leaders Atalanta.
Meanwhile, Venezia have bigger problems. Sitting bottom of the league with just two wins from 15 games, and with just 13 goals to their name, they sit three points from safety, and don’t look likely to change their league position come the weekend.
As the game approaches, here is everything you need to know about both sides ahead of kick-off.
Juventus Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1): Mattia Perin (GK); Jonas Rouhi, Pierre Kalulu, Federico Gatti, Danilo; Nicolo Fagioli; Manuel Locatelli; Timothy Weah, Teun Koopmeiners, Chico Conceicao; Dusan Vlahovic.
While they may be undefeated in the league, there is still more than a little tension in and around Turin. Gone are the days where Juventus would walk their way to the title, better than all the rest, and they now seem to be only competing for Champions League football, and even then, they are in no way considered favourites.
While their squad is talented, it is a far cry from the glory days of the mid-2010’s, where they could boast the likes of Mandzukic, Chiellini, Bonucci, Buffon, Pirlo and Pogba amongst countless others.
Coach Thiago Motta has done well to keep them on track to compete in Europe next year, but there appears to be regression from their showing last season, which saw them finish third. Motta needs to translate draws into wins sooner rather than later to keep the demanding, results driven Juventus masses at bay.
Venezia Predicted Lineup (5-2-2-1): Filip Stankovic (GK); Francesco Zampano, Giorgio Altare, Michael Svoboda, Jay Idzes, Antonio Candela; Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, Issa Doumbia; Gianluca Busio, Gaetano Oristiano; Joel Pohjanpalo.
After promotion from Serie B last season, it was almost guaranteed that Venezia would struggle in the top division. Many tipped them for immediate relegation, and so far, they have lived up to expectations.
While they have shown fight in many of their fixtures against top sides, none of them have resulted in victory, with their only wins coming against Udinese and Genoa. Missed opportunities against relegation zone neighbours Monza and Hellas Verona have also cost them.
They have plenty of character, and with Pohjanpalo up front always pose a goalscoring threat, but the overall quality of their squad simply cannot compete with the more established Serie A sides.
Last five meetings:
Historical Head to Head - Juventus: 6. Drawn: 2. Venezia: 0.
Despite Juventus lack of winning know-how this season, this is virtually a guaranteed three points. Venezia simply do not have the quality to threaten the Juve backline, which is why we are backing Juventus to cruise to all three points.
Juventus 4-0 Venezia
Juventus will go at Venezia from the off, and after some early resistance, the newly promoted side will cave, opening the door for a high scoring remainder of the game.
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