Juventus resume their Serie A campaign with a somewhat tricky fixture against Hellas Verona at the Allianz Stadium. Curiously enough, Hellas are only a point behind the defending champions in the table, after an impressive start to the season.
Juventus shrugged off the disappointment of a 1-1 draw against Crotone in the league to soundly defeat Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine in their midweek UEFA Champions League fixture.
Alvaro Morata has rediscovered his scoring touch, and two excellent finishes in the second half were enough to give Andrea Pirlo his first win in Europe as a manager.
Verona continued their trend of low-scoring games, steadying the ship after a 1-0 loss away to Parma with a goalless draw at home against Genoa.
The Gialloblu could consider themselves unlucky, as Mattia Perin was in fine form to deny Ebrima Colley and Andrea Favilli throughout, while also producing a stunning save from an Eddy Salcedo header late on to ensure the game finished 0-0.
Juventus vs Hellas Verona Head-to-Head
Juventus have naturally dominated this fixture in recent times, with six wins out of 10 underlining their superiority. Verona have managed to garner two draws and two wins, the last of which came when the two sides met in February this year.
Verona ran out shock 2-1 winners thanks to a late penalty scored by Giampaolo Pazzini, with Cristiano Ronaldo's early solo effort going in vain.
Juventus form guide: W-D-W-D-W
Hellas Verona form guide: W-W-W-L-D
Juventus vs Hellas Verona Team News
Andrea Pirlo has a lengthy injury list to deal with, but foremost on his mind will be Cristiano Ronaldo, who continues his COVID-19 imposed isolation after a second positive test earlier this week. Weston McKennie joins him in isolation as well, while Giorgio Chiellini is out after pulling his hamstring against Kiev in midweek.
Alex Sandro and Matthijs de Ligt are long-term absentees, while Federico Chiesa is suspended after getting sent off on his debut last week. Pirlo is expected to rotate after midweek exertions, which ought to see the likes of Merih Demiral and Paulo Dybala start.
Injuries: Cristiano Ronaldo, Weston McKennie, Giorgio Chiellini, Alex Sandro, Matthijs de Ligt
Doubtful: None
Suspensions: Federico Chiesa
Ivan Juric also has coronavirus problems of his own, with defender Koray Gunter in isolation. There aren't any fresh injuries for the Verona boss to deal with, although there are plenty occupying the physio room.
Andrea Favilli might make way for Nikola Kalinic in attack, with Juric likely to stick to most of the side that drew against Genoa.
Injuries: Marco Benassi, Giangiacomo Magnani, Andrea Danzi, Miguel Veloso, Koray Gunter, Pawel Dawidowicz, Mert Cetin
Doubtful: None
Suspensions: None
Juventus vs Hellas Verona Predicted Lineups
Juventus Predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Wojciech Szczesny (GK); Leonardo Bonucci, Merih Demiral, Danilo; Juan Cuadrado, Rodrigo Bentancur, Arthur Melo, Dejan Kulusevki; Federico Bernardeschi; Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata
Hellas Verona predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Marco Silvestri (GK); Federico Ceccherini, Matteo Lovato, Alan Empereur; Marco Faraoni, Ronaldo Vieira, Ivan Ilic, Darko Lazovic; Adrien Tameze, Ebrima Colley; Nikola Kalinic
Juventus vs Hellas Verona Prediction
Juventus' squad is stretched a bit thin at the moment, and Verona are likely to be tricky opponents with their high-tempo style.
However, Andrea Pirlo has formidable options with which to rotate, and with Paulo Dybala chomping at the bit to start, we could very well witness a goal-scoring return for the Argentine forward.
Alvaro Morata will also be keen to keep his scoring run going, which ought to result in a functional win for the Bianconeri.
Prediction: Juventus 2-0 Hellas Verona