Juventus will be aiming to continue their excellent start to the campaign as they meet Fiorentina on Saturday afternoon.
Juventus have had an eventful summer, which was followed by an entertaining start to the 2019-20 Serie A campaign. They have won two out of two so far, but were forced to work really hard to seal all three points against Napoli in the last game. In fact, it was a late own goal from Kalidou Koulibaly that helped the Italian champions secure a hard-fought win over Carlo Ancelotti’s men.
Nevertheless, Juventus will look to continue their hundred percent record when they travel to Stadio Artemio Franchi to face Fiorentina on Saturday. Failing to secure a win this weekend would allow Torino and Inter Milan to get ahead of them on points, though it is pretty early in the season to consider anything.
Fiorentina, meanwhile, are enduring a difficult start to their campaign, having lost their first two matches against Napoli and Genoa, respectively.
Tactics & Team News
Fiorentina
Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella will miss out on the services of Pedro due to injury while Rachid Ghezzal is suspended. He is also expected to make a few changes to the side that lost to Genoa in the last game.
Bayern Munich legend and new signing Franck Ribery is set for his full debut for Fiorentina after joining the club for free this summer.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Dragowski; Lirola, Pezzella, Milenkovic, Dalbert; Pulgar, Badelj, Castrovilli; Chiesa, Boateng, Ribery
Juventus
Maurizio Sarri heaped praise on Aaron Ramsey during the press conference prior to the game. But, he also iterated that the Welshman is “physically behind” and is, therefore, unlikely to feature on Saturday. Adrien Rabiot, too, is expected to start on the bench.
That means both Blaise Matuidi and Sami Khedira could retain their place in the starting lineup. They will partner Miralem Pjanic at the base of Juventus’s 4-3-3. It will be interesting to see how these players cope with Fiorentina’s dynamic midfield trio of Pulgar, Castrovilli and Badelj.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, de Ligt, Sandro; Matuidi, Pjanic, Khedira; Costa, Higuain, Ronaldo
Key Stats
Fiorentina have lost 77 of their previous 160 encounters against Juventus in Serie A: the Bianconeri are the side against whom the Viola have lost the most games in the competition.
Fiorentina have lost their last two home encounters against Juventus in the top flight: only once previously have they lost three consecutive home matches against the Bianconeri in the top-flight – back in 1952.
Fiorentina are winless in their last 16 Serie A games: they last went longer without a victory in the division back in 1970-71.
Fiorentina are winless in their last 12 home games in the Serie A, their longest such run in the competition.
Juventus have won their opening two fixtures in Serie A this season – they have won their first three league games in each of the last three campaigns. No other side has achieved the same feat.