MY ACCOUNT
Juventus will hope to return to winning ways on Sunday night when they face Salernitana in Serie A, just days after losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
The Old Lady made a slow start in Paris on Tuesday, and found themselves 2-0 down inside the opening 23 minutes thanks to a brace from France ace Kylian Mbappe.
Midfielder Weston McKennie managed to pull a goal back shortly after half-time but that proved nothing more than a consolation, and Juve will hope to rediscover the winning feeling at the earliest possible opportunity.
However, they may not have it all their own way this weekend, with Salernitana currently enjoying a four-match unbeaten run.
Team news
Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri may have to rotate his squad with his side in Champions League action once again against Benfica in midweek.
McKennie and Manuel Locatelli are set to start, but Paul Pogba and Federico Chiesa will both miss out.
If Allegri decides to return to a back four, Alex Sandro is likely to be given the nod at left-back, while fellow Brazilians Danilo and Bremer may be dropped to the bench to allow them a rest.
Angel Di Maria and Wojciech Szczesny are both considered doubts with calf and ankle injuries respectively.
Salernitana will be without Emil Bohinen, Matteo Lovato, Ivan Radovanovic and club captain Franck Ribery through injury.
The stats
Juventus won both games against newly-promoted Salernitana last season, each by a 2-0 scoreline, with Paulo Dybala and Dusan Vlahovic scoring the goals in the victory at the Allianz Stadium in March.
Salernitana do not usually perform well when travelling to Turin as they were also hammered 4-0 at Torino last term, having lost 1-0 at home.
Juve have not won successive games at the Allianz Stadium since March, but they will feel this weekend is the perfect time to end that run of poor form.
Striker Vlahovic could become just the fourth Juventus player to score in five consecutive home appearances in Serie A since 1994, with Alessandro del Piero, David Trezeguet and Cristiano Ronaldo the only other members of that particular club.
Boulaye Dia has made an excellent start to the campaign for Salernitana, scoring in each of the last three games as well as providing two assists, having missed the opening 1-0 defeat to Roma.
Prediction
Injuries to Pogba and Chiesa have certainly derailed Allegri’s potential plans this season, and they are already find themselves four points behind league-leaders Atalanta.
While they have struggled to get out of first gear this season, Juventus are in fact unbeaten in five Serie A games, although three draws has done little to quell growing unrest.
The Bianconeri though are usually dominant at home, and they have only lost one of their last 15 games at the Allianz Stadium.
That 1-0 reverse came at the hands of title-chasing Inter Milan back in April, although that was one of just four defeats suffered on their own patch in 2021-22, with only champions AC Milan conceding fewer goals than their tally of 14 at home.
Salernitana’s record in Turin is poor and will likely fall to defeat without scoring once again, having also netted just 16 away goals last season, while they have managed just one in two games on the road this term.
Juventus should also cover the half-time/full-time market during Sunday’s contest.
