Juventus will begin their quest to reclaim the Scudetto this Monday as they host Sassuolo in their first game of the 2022/23 Serie A season.
Venue: Allianz Stadium (Turin)
Key Statistics
Juventus have won just one of their last eight games in all competitions (D2, L5).
The hosts have kept just one clean sheet from their last five home league games.
No Serie A player has scored more home goals since 2020/21 than Juventus’ Dušan Vlahović.
Sassuolo have scored 2+ goals in ten of their last 20 matches.
The visitors ended the previous Serie A season without an away win in their last three games (D1, L2).
Only six sides scored more goals than Sassuolo last season (64 goals).
Head to head
In 19 head-to-head meetings between the two sides, Juventus hold a clear advantage. They have won 14 games, lost two and drawn three.
Latest performances in all competitions
Juventus: L-L-D-W-L
Sassuolo: L-W-D-W-W
Juventus
After a disappointing end to last season, Juventus will look to begin this season with a win when they welcome Sassuolo to Turin this Monday.
The Old Lady ended the 2021/22 season without a trophy, extending their wait for a domestic trophy to two years. For a team that was always in the title conversation, Juve struggled to even break into the top four. Although they eventually finished in fourth position, it was partly because the other teams around them did not take their chances as Juventus won none of their last three league games (D1, L2).
Head coach Maximiliano Allegri has declared that it is his player’s “duty” to win the Scudetto this season having missed out on it in two consecutive seasons now. However, judging by their pre-season form, it is hard to envision the Old Lady mounting a serious title push this summer.
The hosts come into this game on the back of a 4-0 loss to Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in their most recent friendly game. A hat-trick from former Real Madrid and Chelsea striker and Spain international Alvaro Morata and a goal from Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha sealed the deal for Atletico Madrid and meant that Allegri’s men won just one of their preseason games–a 2-0 win over Mexican club Guadalajara.
The departure of Paulo Dybala, Matthijs de Ligt, Merih Demiral and legendary defender Giorgio Chiellini this summer has left a hole in Juve’s team. However, the Old Lady have invested the money from the sale of players on the defensive pair Andrea Cambiaso & Bremer. So Allegri will hope that his new players will hit the ground running as they look to challenge recent champions Inter Milan and AC Milan for the title.
Possible Juventus starting line-up
Mattia Perin, Mattia De Sciglio, Leonardo Bonucci, Gleison Bremer, Alex Sandro, Angel Di Maria, Denis Zakaria, Manuel Locatelli, Nicolo Rovella, Matias Soule, Dusan Vlahovic
Injured: Paul Pogba, Federico Chiesa, Wojciech Szczesny, Marley Ake, Kaio Jorge
Doubtful: Weston McKennie, Juan Cuadrado
Suspended: Adrien Rabiot, Moise Kean
Sassuolo
Meanwhile, Sassuolo will look to bounce back from their disappointing start to the season when they travel to Turin on Sunday.
The visitors have already played their first game of the season, albeit in the Coppa Italia against second-tier opponents Modena who beat them 3-2. With no domestic cup to look forward to and no European involvement, this season following an eleventh-place finish last season, Sassuolo will look to finish in the top half of this season.
But with a raft of their players already sold this summer, including last season’s top-scorer Gianluca Scamacca who has left for West Ham, the job of finishing in the top half has been made more difficult for manager Alessio Dionisi, who stated ahead of this game that “my only hope is that no one else leaves”.
However, given that they beat Juventus in this fixture last season, they will fancy their chances of getting a good result in this game.
Possible Sassuolo starting line-up
Andrea Consigli, Mert Muldur, Riccardo Marchizza, Gian Marco Ferrari, Giorgos Kyriakopoulos, Maxime Lopez, Davide Frattesi, Kristian Thorstvedt, Domenico Berardi, Giacomo Raspadori, Emil Konradsen Ceide
Injured: Hamed Traore
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Juventus 1-1 Sassuolo
