On Wednesday night, Juventus must put their recent disappointment against Inter behind them, as they will get the chance to win their first official trophy of the season.
The Bianconeri will participate in the Italian Super Cup fixture after winning their ninth Scudetto title in a row last season, and they are set to meet Napoli who beat them in the Coppa Italia final last campaign, when the match went to penalty shootouts after a 0-0 draw.
After the under-par performances of most the players involved in the Derby d’Italia loss on Sunday, Andrea Pirlo is expected to ring some changes on the formtion, however, with the unavailability of several key members due to injuries (like Paulo Dybala) or positive Covid-19 tests (Juan Cuadrado, Alex Sandro and Matthijs De Ligt), the young coach will have very small room for tactical tinkering.
But one important card remains in the manager’s hand, that of the young Turkish defender Merih Demiral.
The 22-year-old has mostly been very impressive whenever who took the field for the Old Lady, but unfortunately for the former Sassuolo man, he has so far spent the majority of his days in Turin on the treatment table.
Nonetheless, Demiral is apparently available for the Super Cup clash, and according to La Gazzetta Dello Sport via TuttoJuve, he’ll be set for a starting position in Pirlo’s back-three, alongside veterans Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini.
Danilo on the other hand will replace Gianluca Frabotta in the left wingback role, with Federico Chiesa once again starting on the right.
Rodrigo Bentancur, Arthur and Weston McKennie should start in midfield, with Crtistiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata inevitably playing in attack.
Expected starting lineup (3-4-1-2): Szczesny, Demiral, Bonucci, Chiellini; Chiesa, Bentancur, Arthur, Danilo; McKennie; Morata, Ronaldo.
