Did you know Juventus has only lost one game in Serie A this season? Had it not been for that 4-2 collapse in Firenze, Juventus very well could be undefeated. It’s something I don’t realize unless I look at the table. Yet, it’s true. Fiorentina, who have been noticeably tamer without Giuseppe Rossi, are the only Italian side to defeat Juventus this season. Of course that was with Rossi, and now he’s injured. But you will be reading plenty of these types of lines over the next 12 days, so let’s just get to the preview.
Juventus
Hopefully the midweek international friendlies will not have a huge effect on Juve’s players, as several saw action in said games. That said the lineup seems to be the normal first choice line up, barring one switch.
In defense, Angelo Ogbonna is projected to start instead of Leo Bonucci. Meanwhile Giorgio Chiellini is expected to return, and of course the wall Andrea Barzagli will be there. I would imagine that Ogbonna is literally starting in place of Bonucci, and thus will be handling (to an extent) his ball playing duties. Though sometimes the three centerbacks all take an equal third of said duties, especially in tighter games.
Now in midfield, we do have a noticeable absence. Andrea Pirlo is suspended for the game. Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal, and, Paul Pogba will start in midfield. I can’t see how Marchisio isn’t the regista, though I also read that he and Vidal may “share” the duties. We’ve seen that before though, it just means Vidal gets the ball on the right flank and/or in the opponents half. Either way, y’all know I like Marchisio in that regista role A LOT so I am looking forward to seeing more. Hopefully Pogba can break out of his recent “slump” and maybe even give us another wondergol. It’s been like two weeks since the last one, that’s a long time to wait for a Pogba wondergoal.
Stephan Lichtsteiner and Kwadwo Asamoah are the wide men, and I am interested to see what happens here in terms of substitutions. Now, most likely neither of these two men will start in the Europa League fixture, so, do we play them a full 90? Or, do you want one of these guys in the Europa League? Either way, I will be assuming way too much information from any possible substitutions to Asamoah and Lichtsteiner during the game this weekend.
Up top we have the dynamic duo of Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente. Hall and Nash Tevez and Llorente both scored against Milan (Llorente had a simple tap in, Tevez had a beauty) and I fully expect them to be involved in any goal scoring against Fiorentina.
Fiorentina
Per usual, our man Enrico has the scoop on Fiorentina with his scouting report. Fiorentina are obviously one of the stronger sides in Serie A, but injuries and suspension have harmed them short term (Borja Valero) and long term (Beppe Rossi, who may make the World Cup but will miss most of the remainder of Serie A it seems.)
Their recent form is poor, there is no disguising that. They are still somewhat alive in the race for the final Champions League spot, but mostly because Napoli have not put the race to sleep. I suppose they are keeping up the 2010s tradition of the last Champions League spot going to the team that screws up the least.
As Enrico mentioned, Fiorentina can play a 3-5-2 and a 4-3-3. Gazzetta dello Sport claims they will be playing a 4-3-3. Nenad Tomovic is one of their injured players, so new(ish) arrival Modibo Diakite will probably start at right back. He will look to improve from his last game, versus Parma, where had got sent off for receiving two yellow cards. In the middle there’s Stefan Savic and Gonzalo Rodriguez, both of whom have been rather good this season. In fact Rodriguez, though he did give up a penalty, was probably the Viola’s best defender in that 4-2 win against Juve. Finally at left back Manuel Pasqual is predicted to start.
The midfield is projected as Alberto Aquilani, David Pizzaro, and Matias Fernandez. The first two guys did not provide much trouble for Juve’s midfield last time around, but Fernandez bagged an assist. Still, I think the clear advantage in midfield lies, as always, with Juventus.
Finally it gets sort of interesting with the three attacking players. Now, it’s pretty certain that Juan Manuel Cuadrado and Josip Illicic will start on either flank, and given how poorly Asamoah played versus Fiorentina the first time around, I would expect Vincenzo Montella to put him in at right wing, but who knows. Then at striker, we also have a bit of indecision: Mario Gomez is projected to start, but I am skeptical of that. First, while Gomez is certainly their best striker (at least with Rossi out, Rossi vs Gomez is a tougher call) he only returned from injury about a month ago, and he has yet to start a Serie A match since his return. Plus he is very much out of form having just returned from injury. Meanwhile, our old handsome friend Alessandro Matri is fully fit and in decent form. He’s not had very many great, or even good, games with Fiorentina, but he has certainly been better there than he was at Milan. If I was Montella (and he knows way more about calcio than I do) I would start Matri, and then put in Gomez as a sub if Matri is playing poorly.
Bottom Line
Well, Fiorentina’s suspensions and injures put them in a hole here. Plus, I can only imagine that Conte and the team have been going nuts thinking about that 4-2 loss from earlier in the season. They will want to avenge that loss, and they will want to dominate Fiorentina in this game to get in their heads for the Europa League ties. Of course, that could lead to Juve losing focus, and Fiorentina could once again take advantage of that. My prediction? 2-1 to Juve.
FIRST!!! WOOHOOOOOOOO ;D First time of many on the new site!
Such huge fuss everywhere in the world about this encounter and it wont even be on tv in Holland due to freaking AZ being on at the same time.
didnt AZ win 4-0 today?
Today the MLS has started. There are plenty of Americans here, so i expect atleast some are following it, what are your expectations?
it should be a great season. a lot of good players are starting to take the league seriously.
Atleast one isn’t such a hater :/
i cant follow the mls. listening to the commentary is like hearing cats sing amongst each other(to me at least), i just wanna throw boots at them.
Seriously? Writing off a whole league because of commentary.. Thats dumb man
im not saying theres anything wrong with the league. im just incapable of watching something such an annoyance present. i.e. try watching tv with a bothersome static, you wont stand it!
Mute the tv lol
*face palm*
what a simple solution :p i dont know why didnt think of that earlier… but i do enjoy hearing the fans. i got myself in catch 22 here.
True. Fan sounds are fun. They should make an option to mute just the commentator.
a certain marco messina is prbly excited lol
hes probably sad by now… redbulls are losing :p Portland and L.A. all day bay bay!! :p
So… you are following it?
i do my best to follow it. like i said: i struggle to watch it due to the incompetence and annoyance of the commentators.
Wherever did he go lol? I miss his stories about him running in front of Thierry Henry’s car and sticking a Juventus hat in his face to sign, moments after almost getting hit and cursed at in French. Legend.
Troll** Legend lol
He’s probably in Beckham’s closet currently
Or nah.
MLS bores me, I wont follow till some Salvadorean players get game time. I am curious to see what Beck’s team will look like.
It aint a great league, but its getting better and better. The eredivisie is a shit league too but it can be fun nontheless. What about players like Henry, Nesta, Di Vaio and stuff playing there?
Its just that I much rather watch Argentine, Mexican, or Brazilian football. They are far more competitive and technical leagues.
so with the time change, is the game being moved up an hour or back in hour for those of us in the US? google tells me the game is at 6:30am but goal says it’s at 5:30am (Central time)
5:30 central is 6:30 eastern. They are both correct. I will be waking up at 6:28am to watch the game.
F$*%@ me, dude, we have another hour of sleep. Go back to sleep.
https://football-italia.net/46196/van-persie-desperate-join-juve my gawd, if we get him, how will other defenses cope with tevez, him and llorente :O I know it’s too early to talk but if it does happen, I would be over the moon
Come on JUVE!!!!!!tre punti piacere!!!!!
Our starting line-up today :3
bonucci rested?
yepp, looks like it, though I have no problem whatsoever with Ogbonna in his place, I just hope he doesn’t do those runs he did when he replaced Chiello and leave a lot of empty space in the back
i agree mate.
Viola viola Vaffanculo
Tevez……get that machine gun ready today lol
better not, I’d rather the trumpet celebration like last time, than the machine gun and something happens with ADV gloating about it
if it happens to us again i will eat my shirt lol.
I dont think it would happen but still, better safe than sound, no?
any stream guys???
try atdhe or firstrow sports.cricfree tv is worth a try too dude
Welcome!
nc too meet y all guys!!!
even better to meet you!! 🙂
How i love the welcoming committee!
XD
stvstream.com
thanks dude y help me a lot!!!
Just woke up, feelin foggy as shit but anyway………. LETS DO THIS SHIT!!!!!!!
ARGH!!! it pains me greatly that im up at this hour yet unable to watch my Juve play!! i wouldnt wish this pain on anyone
will all keep you posted dude
thanks so much Dino! but im trying to fall asleep haha its 4:30am!!
lol we will whisper.
HA! hilarious 🙂 but dont mind me, make all the noise you want
FUCK their fans, they already started offending us >< Bitches, you're in our stadium now, WE OFFEND YOU NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND xD haha
viola merda ale
Also, it’s been some time since the stadium was packed full as today
we will score soon!!
Dutch
https://www.dscplus.org/dsc1.html
Might be an english stream on stvstreams.com
I saw Matri
Guys My name is Adriano Rrenjollari nc to meet y all guys i hope we all anjoy a good chapmopns!!
Hey man, nice to meet you. Welcome.
welcome to the elite mate!
hi Adriano, welcome
so there was a “25” in the choreography today and that 25 represents the friendship between Juve and Den Haag. 25 yrs of friendship btw
haha, i was about to post it xD
too slow :p
but I have the pic, so lets just make it a 50-50 😛
fair enough :p
looked class mate!respect to Den Haag
Yeah this year is 25 years of friendship between the fans. Den Haag had an amazing moment before the match against Feyenoord few weeks ago. Huge banners with Juve and Den Haag logo’s on it and a text about 25 years friendship.
wicked dude!it’s a great site to see.
we need more juve,come on!!!!!!
asa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KWADWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE BLACK STAAAAAAAR <3 KWADWOOOOOOOO
Holy shit Asamoah!!!
Asamoah class….
goalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
GRANDE GOL ASA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Juve conspiracy rumors in 3…2….1, as orsato was seen speaking to conte
What is this for a moron ref? Tevez was about to take the free kick and he blows for half time….
This ref is an idiot. He pisses me off more than the choppy stream I had initially.
BIANCO NERI ALE!
Pogba!come on dude i love you but don’t be so casual!
Why are we sleeping again?….
our players are worn out. more than half of them just came back from international duty from the week and they still have to think about this weeks europa league clash. thanks goodness we dont have to travel far.
What a terrible dive.
wow buffon xD
So awesome.. He saved us there.
yeah, i think if he isn’t the #1 keeper right now, he’s def in the top 3
Realistically Neuer is probably the best right now. But Neuer is in his prime and Buffon is way passed that. Neuer can’t touch Buffon’s prime.
GRANDE VITTORIA!JUVE JUVE JUVE JUVE JUVE
WOW!..27 games,72 points!ALE ALE ALE ALE JUVE JUVE
at this rate, we can be the first team ever to get over a 100 points and also, today we were the first ever team to beat all the other clubs in the league in 1 leg or another
EDIT: and also, today we matched the record of how many consecutive home victories a serie a team has
FANTASTICO!!love this team
we still have to beat verona
we did so in the first round, in the first round, the only teams we didn’t beat were Inter and Fiore, which we won in the second round
oh i did not see that
Hey guys,after a a while,I am back! Nice we got all three points but I don’t get Conte….why the sudden change to defensive mood when we still have a whole half to play? This attitude is not gonna help us in Europe…I really don’t get it
Welkom terug :p
i think the 3 points we needed,europe wise we would have gone for another?or another lol
Yeah, but the 3 points were almost given away and this isn’t the first time we’ve done this. Last time it didn’t end as well as it did now and next time it might not end well either.
i thought second half fiorentina went for it,it was a great result.But yes,we must attack more and want more in the europa league.
Dank U DutchJuve! Also..I think you got what my concerns are with this attitude,we might not always get away with this as you said it
nice to see you back anyway dude!where you been lol?
Dinodelfina..Thanks dude.lol, I have been between Netherlands,Germany and Cameroon..lol..family,work and business!lol
good on you mate!