Serie A 2020/21 preview: Juventus vs Sampdoria

Juventus could be forced to sell Ronaldo for cut-price fee

Stadium: Allianz Stadium

Juventus will begin their defence against Sampdoria with Andrea Pirlo at the helm.

Key stats:

  • Juventus have won all of their opening games of Serie A in the last four seasons.
  • The Bianconeri holds the clear advantage as they have beaten Sampdoria at home in the previous five encounters
  • Juve defeated the Blucerchiati in both the legs in Serie A last season.

Juventus

Juventus will try to start the new season on a winning note as their Serie A title is on the line.

Andrea Pirlo will be leading the Bianconeri in his first-ever managerial stint, and all the eyes would be on the former Italian international.

Earlier, Pirlo insisted that he is looking forward to implementing a high-pressing style and has got good results in the pre-season as well.

Pirlo is expected to stick with 3-5-2 formation after using it in the pre-season games.

Cristiano Ronaldo would be pivotal in the attack while Dejan Kulusevski would be his strike partner. The Swedish youngster is expected to fill the shoes of Paulo Dybala, who is out injured.

Arthur and McKennie, the new signings of Juve, are expected to start in the midfield.

Juventus – Possible line-up

Wojciech Szczęsny, Danilo, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini; Juan Cuadrado, Arthur, Weston McKennie, Adrien Rabiot, Luca Pellegrini; Dejan Kulusevski, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Unavailable: Paulo Dybala, Matthijs de Ligt

Sampdoria

Sampdoria endured a torrid time in the Serie A last season, ending up 15th in the table. Claudio Ranieri’s men would look for retribution in the new season, with Quagliarella leading the attack.

SampdoriaPossible line-up

Audero(GK), Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello, Depaoli, Thorsby, Ekdal, Jankto, Bonazzoli, Quagliarella.