Serie A Preview: Juventus vs Sassuolo – Team News, Lineups & Prediction
Serie A Preview: Juventus vs Sassuolo – Team News, Lineups & Prediction Serie A top-four hopefuls Juventus entertain newcomers Sassuolo in a high-stakes league clash at the Allianz Stadium. The hosts have no margin for error if they’re to stay relevant in the race for Champions League qualification. Winter signing Jeremie Boga scored a winning goal as Juventus saw off Udinese at the Bluenergy Stadium last weekend, securing their second consecutive Serie A victory following a 4-0 thrashing of Pisa on this ground.
Despite those triumphs, Luciano Spalletti’s men sit a point adrift of fourth-placed Como ahead of this evening’s kickoff. Missing out on a top-four finish would be a disaster for the record-time Italian champions. Therefore, Spalletti is under tremendous pressure to guide Juventus to a third consecutive league win.
That’s a feat the Turin giants have achieved only twice this season, most recently in December. Whether visiting Sassuolo have what it takes to deny the Bianconeri a much-needed triumph here remains questionable after they lost their last two Serie A matches against Lazio and Bologna. Though both those defeats came by a single-goal margin, they have compromised the visitors’ hopes of securing a top-half finish.
Indeed, Fabio Grosso’s charges currently trail 10th-placed Udinese by a point, highlighting just how close they are to breaking into the top half of the table heading into the final stretch of the season. However, they must defy the odds here to stay within touching distance. Match Preview Juventus In addition to winning their last two Serie A matches, Juventus kept a clean sheet on both occasions, having previously conceded at least twice in four consecutive league outings.
Buoyed by this noticeable defensive improvement, Spalletti’s top-four-bidding side will look to improve their stuttering home form. Despite boasting Serie A’s third-best home record, Juventus have delivered a mixed bag of performances across their last three league games at the Allianz Stadium (W1, D1, L1). With both matches (won/lost) in this sequence seeing the winner keep a clean sheet, there’s no need to stress the importance of drawing first blood, something Juve have done in 50% of their league fixtures this term (7/14).
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