Juventus travel to the Mapei Stadium as they get set to face Sassuolo in their next Serie A assignment on Monday night.
Juventus travel to Sassuolo for the two sides’ 34th Serie A match of the season as they try to strengthen their hold on a top-four spot in the league table. They are currently fourth in the standings and all but out of the title race as the gap between them and top-placed Inter Milan is nine points. Sassuolo, on the other hand, are tenth on the table and are pushing to finish the season in the top half.
The Bianconeri enter the encounter on the back of a 2-0 win over Fiorentina in the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-finals. Their last league outing, however, didn’t go to plan as Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw by nine-man Bologna. The Old Lady have won three of their last five Serie A games (D1 L1). Inter had gotten the better of Juve earlier this month, which is the Turin giants’ only league defeat of the year.
Sassuolo, on the other hand, go into Monday’s game after having lost 1-0 to Cagliari in their last league game. The Neroverdi were picking up form as the league approached its business stage but two defeats in the last three league matches have slowed them down.
Sassuolo will take some confidence from their 2-1 league win over Juventus earlier this season. Head coach Alessio Dionisi will want his side to follow a similar blueprint. They have also won their last three home matches, which holds them in good stead leading into the clash against Massimiliano Allegri’s side.
Team News & Tactics
Sassuolo
Mister Dionisi prima di #SassuoloJuve ?️
?️ «Juventus favorita e sicuramente più forte e consapevole rispetto all'andata. Noi dobbiamo riscattare la prestazione col Cagliari»
#ForzaSasol ?? pic.twitter.com/6tkwRWw6RE
— U.S. Sassuolo (@SassuoloUS) April 24, 2022
On the injury front, right-back Jeremy Toljan will be a miss after picking up a knock in Sassuolo’s 1-0 defeat against Cagliari. Domenico Berardi has been in scintillating form all season but an ankle injury kept him out of their last league encounter. And he could miss the Juventus matchup as well.
Midfielder Abdou Harroui is yet to join first-team training while Pedro Obiang and Filippo Romagna continue to be absent due to respective injuries. But Mert Muldur’s return from suspension solves some of Alessio Dionisi’s issues.
The Sassuolo manager is expected to continue with his 4-2-3-1 with Maxime Lopez and Davide Frattesi shielding the defence in a two-man central midfield. They will need to stay compact against a Juventus attack eager to give their side all three points.
Giacomo Raspadori and Gianluca Scamacca have become key members of the Sassuolo setup and will hold the key to their prospects of defeating the visitors on Monday. They will have support from the wide areas from Hamed Junior Traore and Gregoire Defrel.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Muldur, Chiriches, Ferrari, Kyriakopoulos; Lopez, Frattesi; Defrel, Raspadori, Traore; Scamacca
Juventus
Massimiliano Allegri has a long injury list which would affect his team selection quite a bit. The Juventus manager will miss the services of Federico Chiesa, Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, Kaio Jorge and Arthur Melo. Juan Cuadrado has also been ruled out due to an injury he picked up in training.
⚪⚫ ????? ??? #???????????? ?
? Backed by @bitgetglobal #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/rF6Tnxb7ae
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 24, 2022
Allegri could make some changes to the side that started the Coppa Italia win over Fiorentina this midweek. Alvaro Morata could be relegated to the bench in favour of Paulo Dybala with Wojciech Szczesny also expected to return to the XI after missing the cup tie.
Allegri will likely field a 4-2-3-1 formation at the Mapei Stadium. Danilo, Leonardo Bonucci, Matthijs de Ligt and Alex Sandro will likely form the back four. Denis Zakaria and Adrien Rabiot ought to form the midfield double pivot.
Federico Bernardeschi should start on the right flank and look to pump in crosses for the main striker, Dusan Vlahovic, to attack. Paulo Dybala could occupy the No. 10 role and look to stitch play together. Alvaro Morata should line up on the left-wing and look to drift in centrally and support Vlahovic in the box.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, de Ligt, Sandro; Zakaria, Rabiot;Bernardeschi, Dybala, Morata; Vlahovic
Key Stats
- Sassuolo have kept just three clean sheets all season. One of them came against league leaders Inter.
- Juventus and Sassuolo have faced off 18 times, with the Bianconeri winning 13 and the Neroverdi two.
- Sassuolo emerged as 2-1 winners when the two sides met in the league earlier this season.
- Sassuolo and Juventus faced off in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals this term as well with the Old Lady coming out on top with a 2-1 scoreline.
- Sassuolo have scored eight more league goals than Juventus this season but have conceded 24 more.
Player to Watch
Dusan Vlahovic
50 career Serie A goals for Dusan Vlahovic.
2 more & he will pass Dejan Stankovic as the top scoring Serbiam player in Serie A history ?? pic.twitter.com/id4bGfIoN6
— Serbian Football (@SerbianFooty) April 16, 2022
Dusan Vlahovic has continued his form for Juventus after joining them from Fiorentina in the January window. The Serbian international has scored seven goals for them in just 12 appearances across competitions. His physicality and athleticism, coupled with the clinical touch in front of the goal have made the centre-forward a vital part of the Bianconeri setup. He could be the visitors’ main man in the clash against Sassuolo.
Prediction
Sassuolo 1-2 Juventus
With Sassuolo struggling defensively this season, Juventus could end up coming out on top in the encounter. The Old Lady will want to finish the season strongly even though they are out of the title race. Dusan Vlahovic has been in good form and will have support from Paulo Dybala in the final third of the pitch. Expect Massimiliano Allegri’s side to win the match with a 2-1 scoreline.
