Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s clash.
Juventus
After a narrow win in the season opener against Fiorentina, Juventus travel to Stadio Olimpico to face Lazio. Max Allegri’s men have dominated the Biancocelesti over the past few seasons and will be looking to maintain their perfect start after a less than convincing performance at the Juventus Stadium. The Roman club who themselves won their opening match will be looking to go 2-0-0 for the first time since 2012-13.
The Bianconeri enjoyed a dominant first half against La Viola last Saturday but their intensity levels waned as the second half carried on. Gonzalo Higuain’s late winner rescued the three points after Nikola Kalinic equalized on Fiorentina’s only real chance of the match. This week Leonardo Bonucci will be missing from the squad for personal reasons. Thanks to their depth one of either Daniele Rugani or Mehdi Benatia will start while Andrea Barzagli will likely move to a more central position. Given his characteristics expect the young Italian centre back to start.
Juventus fans will be excited at the prospect of Miralem Pjanic starting his first game for the Bianconeri after recovering from a hip injury that ruled him out last week. He will battle it out for the starting position with Mario Lemina who was solid last week. Sami Khedira had an outstanding game on Matchday 1 and will likely be joined by Kwadwo Asamoah again who looked as energized as ever in left central midfield. Higuain will start on the bench as he is working his way back to top form. He has been deadly in the past against Lazio, scoring 12 goals in 9 matches.
Probable lineup:
3-5-2: Buffon; Barzagli, Rugani, Chiellini; Alves, Khedira, Pjanic, Asamoah, Evra; Mandzukic, Dybala.
Injuries:
Marchisio (knee), Sturaro (knee), Mandragora (foot). [Also out: Bonucci, Zaza, Marrone]
Lazio
Lazio edged out Atalanta in a 4-3 thriller last weekend in Bergamo. The game demonstrated two things about the Biancocelesti. On the one hand they are deadly on the counter-attack with Ciro Immobile being the most dangerous weapon. The counter-attack contributed to three goals and will likely be the only shot they have at victory on Saturday. On the other hand their defense looked very weak against a mid-table team and will be a concern for Simone Inzaghi against the defending champions.
Lazio will have considerable reinforcements for the match: Felipe Anderson has returned after winning the gold medal in the Olympics and Senad Lulic and Stefan Radu have recovered from injury. Also their new centre-backs Wallace and Bastos have had one more week of practice to acclimate themselves. Notable absentee is Keita Balde with a “knee injury”. The young winger has been accused of holding out and faking his injury due to the fact that his requests to leave and/or obtain a wage increase have been rejected as of now by Claudio Lotito. This odd situation is hurting the club on the field as well as their reputation off of it. It remains to be seen if it will be solved before Wednesday’s transfer deadline. Expect youngsters Cristiano Lombardi and Danilo Cataldi, who both scored in Match Day 1 to play a significant role again on Saturday. Simone Inzaghi has been experimenting with a back 3 this week and will likely line up in a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 formation.
Probable lineup:
3-4-3: Marchetti; Bastos, De Vrij, Radu; Basta, Parolo, Biglia, Lukaku; Anderson, Immobile, Lulic.
Injuries:
Berisha, Keita (knee). Also out: Morrison.
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