Juventus will be looking to put last season’s woes behind them as they kick off a fresh campaign with a Sunday night trip to Udinese.
Juventus will start the 2023/24 Serie A season in the same way as they concluded the previous campaign, with an away trip to face Udinese at the Dacia Arena. The slumbering beast of the Italian game has been in the background in the off-season, trying to restructure its house in the aftermath of a horrendous 2022/23 season.
Docked ten points for financial misdeeds in the wake of mass resignations at the board level, Juventus eventually trailed in seventh in Serie A, some 28 points adrift of Scudetto winners Napoli. While that finish still secured a Europa Conference League place, Allegri’s men have since been banned from continental competition for a year by UEFA, which continues to investigate financial rule breaches.
Bianconeri boss Massimiliano Allegri will be grateful to UEFA for the latter decision, as they will definitely benefit from the fact they won’t play European competitions and are now preparing for an assault on the Italian top flight and the Coppa Italia.
Juventus have shown some strong form in the preseason. They beat AC Milan and Real Madrid on their USA pre-season tour, before a 0-0 warm-up draw against domestic rivals Atalanta on their return to Italy. Now, attention turns to their season opener against Udinese as they hope for a promising start to the new domestic campaign.
Udinese, meanwhile, will be looking to emulate the flying start they had under Andrea Sottil last season, starting with a 4-2 defeat to AC Milan on the opening weekend. They put together a six-match winning streak in the early stages of the campaign before eventually running out of gas.
The hosts’ objective this season should be to improve on last season’s 12th-place finish. Udinese could find themselves on the edge of the European conversation once again this season if they can string together consistency throughout the campaign.
They showed signs of progress throughout the summer, with victories against RB Leipzig and Al-Rayyan, and a comprehensive Coppa Italia First Round victory against US Catanzaro. So they will be confident to make this a difficult game for Juve.
Team News & Tactics
Udinese
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— Udinese Calcio (@Udinese_1896) August 18, 2023
Udinese will be without the services of Gerard Deulofeu, who will be out for a few weeks due to another knee injury. Without Deulofeu, former France international Florian Thauvin will be expected to provide flair and creativity.
Kingsley Ehizibue and Enzo Ebosse have long-term injuries and are not expected to be back until later this year. Otherwise, Andrea Sottil’s men come into this game in fine shape after a busy summer transfer window. In terms of major outgoings, they have lost centre-back Rodrigo Becao to Fenerbahce, while Destiny Udogie has joined Tottenham Hotspur.
Sottil’s men have spent the majority of the summer fending off an array of domestic suitors vying for the signature of Lazar Samardzic. Lazio are the latest team to show interest in the Serbian prodigy, after Inter Milan and Juventus.
Udinese have brokered some interesting arrivals from England. Domingos Quina and Christian Kabasele swapped Vicarage Road for the Dacia Arena. Left-back Jordan Zemura joined on a free transfer from Bournemouth in an eye-catching move, while Etienne Camara left Huddersfield for Udine.
The Friulani also have a big battle on their hands to keep star striker Beto, who bagged ten goals in 33 league appearances last season to finish as Udinese’s top scorer for the second season in a row.
As such, Brazilian striker Brenner has been snapped up for a hefty €10 million fee after scoring 27 goals during his two years in Major League Soccer with FC Cincinnati. The 23-year-old is expected to make his Serie A debut in this game for the home side.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Silvestri; Perez, Bijol, Masina; Ebosele, Zarraga, Walace, Lovric, Zemura; Thauvin, Beto
Juventus
Unlike their hosts, Juventus have endured the quietest transfer window in a long time. And that is bad news for Massimiliano Allegri, who sorely needs reinforcements. Talks to bring ex-Inter striker Romelu Lukaku’s move to Turin continue despite the extensive backlash from fans.
But Allegri’s only major signing remains USMNT winger, Timothy Weah, although Manuel Locatelli, Moise Kean, and Arkadiusz Milik have all had their loan moves converted to permanent deals. Alongside senior management, Juventus boss Max Allegri recently decided to sideline club captain Leonardo Bonucci, who is likely to leave Turin soon. Weston McKennie is back in the fold, though, after an unsuccessful loan at Leeds United last season.
Dejan Kulusevski’s move to Tottenham was made permanent, while Denis Zakaria and Radu Dragusin have both left on a permanent deal. In yet another controversial transfer, Juve sold promising talent Nicolo Rovella to top-four rivals Lazio on a loan-to-buy deal worth €17 million.
In terms of injury updates ahead of the trip to face Udinese, Mattia De Sciglio and injury-prone Paul Pogba remain major doubts, but midfielder Nicolo Fagioli has returned to training after successfully recovering from a minor collarbone injury and will be included in the matchday squad.
With Juan Cuadrado leaving the Bianconeri this summer, Weah would most likely make his competitive debut on the right flank in Allegri’s familiar 3-5-2/3-5-1-1 formation. Despite extensive speculation of a move away on a Bosman transfer, last season’s best performer, Adrien Rabiot, has decided to put pen to paper on a new long-term deal to stay in Turin.
The Frenchman could start here in the midfield trio alongside Fabio Miretti and Locatelli, with Filip Kostic providing the width on the left-hand side. Angel Di Maria has been among the headline departures, so Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa could be paired up front, with Milik serving as cover.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Weah, Miretti, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Chiesa, Vlahovic
Key Stats
- Juventus are unbeaten in 14 of their last 15 meetings against Udinese in the Serie A, with their only setback during this stretch coming by a 2-1 margin in July 2020.
- Juventus and Udinese last played each other on the opening Serie A matchday in 2021; the game finished with both sides sharing the spoils in a 2-2 draw.
- The hosts have suffered defeats in two of their last three opening games in Serie A.
- The visitors conceded just 18 goals in 19 Serie A away fixtures last season.
- Udinese have lost their last four Serie A matches.
Player to Watch
Federico Chiesa
Despite being strongly linked with a summer move to Liverpool, Federico Chiesa has decided to stay put at Juventus after being promised a more prominent role this season. The Italian international was not at his best under Massimiliano Allegri’s management last term, looking like a square peg in a round hole in the defence-first system.
However, the quicksilver winger showcased his quality and tactical delivery, cementing himself as a vital player during the club’s pre-season, where he was even named as the best player of the Soccer Champions Tour. Couple that with his excellent physical condition, a fit and firing Federico Chiesa will be a major asset for the Turin club this season now that he is more familiar with Allegri’s system and its demands.
Prediction
Udinese 0-1 Juventus
Expectations at Juventus are likely to be at their lowest in almost a decade, especially considering the dearth of transfer activity to provide fans with something to look forward to. There have been some low-scoring affairs in this fixture in recent years, and few would be surprised if something similar pans out this weekend. For all their off-field woes and anti-football playing style, Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus always find a way to get a favourable result.
This is a tricky opener for them. But they should have just enough attacking quality to break down Udinese’s defensive setup and snatch a goal or two at some stage courtesy of some individual brilliance or from a set-piece situation, as they look set to start the new season with a win in the battle of the Bianconeri.
