Italian giants Juventus will take on Lazio in the Italian league on Sunday and they will be looking to continue their impressive run of form with a win.
Max Allegri’s side have had a poor start to the season by their standards but they have recovered in recent weeks. Juventus are currently fourth in the league table and a win here could send them into the top two.
Meanwhile, Lazio are second in the league table and they will look to grind out an important result away from home.
The two sides are separated by just two points in the table and it could be an evenly-matched contest here. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
Juventus do not have the best of records against Lazio (three wins from their last six meetings) and they will need to be at their best to grind out all three points despite their recent upturn in form.
The home side have won their last five league matches and the players will be reasonably confident heading into the game. Lazio have picked up two back-to-back wins after the defeat to Salernitana and they will look to keep that run going.
Team News and Tactics
Juventus
The home side will be without the services of Kaio Jorge, Paul Pogba, Mattia De Sciglio, Dusan Vlahovic, and Samuel Iling-Junior due to injuries. Alex Sandro was sent off against Verona and is suspended for this game.
Allegri is likely to continue with his 3-5-2 setup here. Wojciech Szczesny will start in goal with a back three of Danilo, Gleison Bremer and Leonardo Bonucci ahead of him.
Juan Cuadrado and Filip Kostic will start as the wing-backs here. Both players are excellent going forward and they will be the team’s main source of creativity.
Manuel Locatelli will be the defensive midfielder here and he will look to sit deep and shield the back three. Meanwhile, Adrien Rabiot and Nicolo Fagioli will start as the central midfielders.
Fabio Miretti will start as the second striker behind Arkadiusz Milik.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Szczesny; Danilo, Bremer, Bonucci; Cuadrado, Fagioli, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Miretti, Milik
Lazio
The visitors will be without the services of Mattia Zaccagni, Patric and Manuel Lazzari due to injuries here.
Maurizio Sarri is expected to set up his side in a 4-3-3 and he will look to get a win over his former side this weekend.
Ivan Provedel will start in goal for Lazio with the back four of Elseid Hysaj, Nicolo Casale, Alessio Romagnoli and Adam Marusic ahead of him.
In the midfield, Danilo Cataldi will sit back and control the tempo of the game. Meanwhile, Matias Vecino will look to win the ball back and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic will be the box-to-box midfielder who will help out defensively and contribute in the attacking phase of play as well.
Matteo Cancellieri and Pedro Rodriguez will start as the wide forwards and Felipe Anderson will lead the line for the visitors.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Provedel; Hysaj, Casale, Romagnoli, Marusic; Vecino, Cataldi, Milinkovic-Savic; Cancellieri, Anderson, Pedro
Key Stats
- Lazio have kept a clean sheet in 8 of their last 9 matches (Serie A).
- Juventus have kept a clean sheet in their last 5 matches (Serie A).
- Juventus have won their last 5 matches (Serie A).
- Juventus have scored at least 2 goals in 9 of their last 11 home matches against Lazio in all competitions.
- Lazio have won their last 4 away matches (Serie A).
- Juventus have scored at least 2 goals in 8 of their last 9 home matches (Serie A).
- Juventus are undefeated in their last 5 matches against Lazio in all competitions.
Player to watch out for
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
The Serbian midfielder has been in impressive form this season and he has three goals and seven assists in 13 Serie A games. He will look to stamp his authority on the contest here.
Milinkovic-Savic is unlikely to face much resistance from Juventus because of their depleted midfield options. He could be a game-changer for Lazio at the weekend.
Prediction
Juventus 1-1 Lazio
Both teams are capable of picking up all three points here. Juventus are in better form but Lazio are no pushovers. They have done well on their travels recently. The two sides are likely to cancel each other out in a draw.
