After a two-week break for internationals, both clubs will return to Serie A action this weekend. Juventus will travel to the Artemio Franchi, where they will face Fiorentina. These are two clubs which, at the moment, are going in opposite directions.
Juventus comes off a two-game winning streak. The Bianconeri won against Parma to open their season and won a thriller in their home opener against Napoli. In their game versus Napoli, the Bianconeri had a three-goal lead in the second half but Napoli made a strong comeback to tie the game. However, an unfortunate own goal from Kalidou Koulibaly in injury time resulted in Juventus winning the game. This is not how a team envisions winning the game but a win is a win and Juventus will take their good fortune in to their next game versus Fiorentina.
Fiorentina, however, seem to be on the wrong side at the moment, losing both of their games against Napoli and Genoa. They had an unfortunate loss versus Napoli in their season home opener, where the team looked very strong and promising to start the season. Their second game versus Genoa was disappointing as the team was not as energetic and motivated as their first game. Throughout the game, it seemed as though Federico Chiesa was the only player involved. To add insult to injury, Fiorentina has not won in 17 games under Vicenzo Montella. The coach will want to start winning soon or he may be the next coach to be fired.
Injuries
Juventus: Giorgio Chiellini, Mattia Perin and Marko Pjaca
Doubtful: Aaron Ramsey and Mattia De Sciglio
Fiorentina: Pedro
Predicted Line Ups
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Dragowski; Lirola, Pezzella, Milenkovic, Dalbert; Badelj, Castrovilli, Pulgar; Chiesa, Boateng, Ribery
Juventus (4-3-3): Szczesny; Danilo, De Ligt, Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Pjanic, Khedira, Matuidi; Costa, Higuain, Ronaldo
Key Clash
Matthijs De Ligt will want to forget his first game with Juventus after being on for three goals against Napoli. The defender was caught out of position on two set piece goals while another goal showed the central defender making a weak attempt to get back and cover his man, which led to a goal. However, the young defender was put into a hard position when Giorgio Chiellini was hurt in training, a few days prior to their match with Napoli. The young defender, who came from Ajax this past summer, will aim to bounce back with a stronger performance against Fiorentina. The young defender showed great skill and potential with Ajax last season, so expect the defender to bounce back this game.
As for the Viola, Chiesa has been the most impressive player on the team this season. While he hasn’t scored yet this season, the forward continues to display his strong play with good ball movement up the field, creating chances from the wing and having his own opportunities which either has resulted with the goalkeeper making a quality save or finding the iron. With the forward’s impressive start to the season, we could expect the same against Juventus. However, Montella hasn’t won in 16 games and will want to chance that fortune around. A very difficult task against the Serie A champions from 2018-2019, Montella will need to come prepared or it may just be his 17th loss in a row.
