Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s Serie A clash between Juventus and Udinese, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Having gone eight games without a win, fallen giants Juventus are amid a full-blown crisis before welcoming Udinese to Turin on Wednesday.
In a battle of the Bianconeri, Juve will seek a response after sacking their coach, but an away win would see the Fruilani leapfrog their hosts in the Serie A standings.
Match preview
After failing to produce a response to going 1-0 down within 10 minutes at Stadio Olimpico, Juventus lost to Lazio on Sunday evening, recording their third straight defeat across all competitions.
The last time Juve claimed maximum points was in mid-September, when they won a seven-goal Derby d’Italia against Inter Milan by freakishly scoring with all of their shots on target.
Having previously lost 2-0 to Como and 1-0 to Real Madrid – following a tense goalless draw with AC Milan – the Turin club have now failed to score in almost 400 minutes of action since Francisco Conceicao found the net against Villarreal.
With just two points from their first trio of Champions League fixtures, Juventus have also been performing below expectations in Europe, so Igor Tudor‘s position inevitably came under increased scrutiny.
The axe finally fell just before the Croatian coach met his former club, who he saved from relegation during the first of two brief spells in Udine – former Italy coach Luciano Spalletti is favourite to take the reins.
Following a 2-0 home victory in May, Juve have won 13 of their last 16 league games against Udinese, so at least history suggests they can stop the rot under interim boss Massimo Brambilla.
In fact, Wednesday’s visitors have scored just one goal across the last seven meetings with their fellow Bianconeri – a run in which they have suffered six defeats.
This time, Udinese will go toe-toe with Juventus as equals in the league table, having accrued 12 points from their eight matches so far.
Captain Jesper Karlstrom scored his first Serie A goal to put them in front against Lecce last time out, before rising star Arthur Atta laid on his second assist for Keinan Davis to power home a header.
Though the Fruilani then conceded from a free kick, substitute striker Adam Buksa later wrapped up maximum points on the break, before Lecce pulled another one back deep into stoppage time.
A fourth consecutive victory over the Salentini saw Kosta Runjaic and co claim their place in Serie A’s top half, just behind Juve on goal difference.
They will now aim to build on that success by extending an impressive away record – only Roma have picked up more points on the road.
Juventus Serie A form:
W D D D L L
Juventus form (all competitions):
D D D L L L
Udinese Serie A form:
W L L D D L
Udinese form (all competitions):
L W L D D W
Team News
Juventus are still missing Brazilian defender Bremer and Colombian wing-back Juan Cabal due to injury – and Khephren Thuram is a doubt – but Brambilla should otherwise have a full squad to choose from.
The caretaker coach has to solve a quandary up front, where Lois Openda, Jonathan David and contract rebel Dusan Vlahovic are all vying for selection: the latter two were paired against Lazio but still failed to score.
Regular starters Michele Di Gregorio and Kenan Yildiz were both benched at the weekend, but they could return to the starting XI on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Udinese’s only significant absentee will be Danish centre-back Thomas Kristensen, who is still sidelined by a thigh problem.
Three-goal top scorer Davis is set to lead the Fruilani’s attack, with Nicolo Zaniolo his most likely partner.
Runjaic publicly defended goalkeeper Maduka Okoye for making a few errors against Lecce, having recently returned from a long ban; so the Nigeria international will start between the posts in Turin.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Gatti, Kelly; McKennie, Locatelli, Koopmeiners, Cambiaso; Conceicao, Yildiz; Vlahovic
Udinese possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Goglichidze, Kabasele, Bertola; Zanoli, Piotrowski, Karlstrom, Atta, Zemura; Zaniolo, Davis
We say: Juventus 1-1 Udinese
Although precedent strongly suggests that Juventus should win, recent showings cast doubt on their chances.
Not only are Juve in total disarray at the moment, but Udinese have now found some form and are well set up under Runjaic.
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