BACKGROUND
It will be the battle of the Zebras in Turin on Saturday night, as defending champions Juventus will butt heads with the relegation candidates from Udinese.
Marcelo Lippi's side are likely to feel a pleasant rush of blood when they first look across the field at their opponents, as it was against Udinese that they famously snatched the Scudetto from Inter's grasps on the fateful final day of last season. They will be able to at least provisionally leapfrog over Inter again if they manage to beat the Friuli outfit once more, thus Juve's hearts and minds will surely be in it on Saturday even though they have the distraction of an important upcoming European game against Feyenoord to contend with.
Udinese will be looking to bounce back from their Coppa Italia exit at the hands of Bari, which was confirmed despite the fact that they managed to beat the Serie B side 1-0 thanks to a Pizarro penalty in midweek. The aggregate nature of the competition ensuring that Udinese were deservedly punished for the 4-0 whipping they took in the first-leg.
Luciano Spalletti's troops are fighting for their very Serie A existences and certainly wouldn't mind following in unfashionable Como's footsteps by escaping the Delle Alpi with a point this weekend.
LATEST TEAM NEWS
The hosts will once again have to reckon without their most prolific marksman from last season David Trezeguet, who is struggling to shake off the stubborn remnants of a long-term knee injury. There is also concern about the fitness of their golden boy Alessandro Del Piero due to the hip injury he sustained in the 1-0 loss at Newcastle in midweek. At the time of writing, DP was officially listed as doubtful. At least Marco Di Vaio is back available following the horrific concussion he suffered a little over a fortnight ago and he will likely be partnered up-front by Marcelo Salas should Del Piero fail a late fitness test.
Spaletti has several players unavailable to him as Almiron, Gargo, Genaux, Magro, Nomvete, Sottil, Bertotto and Jancker are all out through inury. The latter would probably have been dropped for this game anyway, as he has put in one inept performance after another since arriving from Bayern Munich in the summer.
FORM GUIDE
Juventus – last 6 matches (all comps) WTWTTL
The wind has gone out of Juventus' sails a bit of late as far as the results are concerned. However, the bianconeri were unlucky not to have registered a massive win away to Inter last week - but for a last-ditch Vieri equalizer - and were also hard done by Buffon's uncharacteristic blunder in a 1-0 loss to Newcastle last Thursday.
Udinese – last 6 matches (all comps) LLWLWW
Udinese have won three of their last four games, though the last 'W' is a little deceptive due to the fact that it did not prevent them from crashing out of the Italian Cup at the hands of Bari. It also bears mentioning that all three of their last victories were by virtue of a lone goal, while their most recent defeat away to Roma was a hammering.
LOOK OUT FOR
Despite being one of the granddaddies of Italian football, Ciro Ferrara has shown himself to be one of the best defenders in the Serie A this season. The 35-year-old was a joy to behold against Inter last week and any aspiring centre-back should keep a keen eye on expert way in which he marshals the backline.
Roberto Muzzi is finally approaching full-strength following a long-term injury and he will be looking to confirm that he is back for real with a match-winning performance against Juve. On his day, the pacey striker is one of the slipperiest customers in the Italian league. Will Saturday be his day?
PROBABLES
Juventus (3-4-1-2): Buffon; Thuram, Iuliano, Ferrara; Moretti, Camoranesi, Davids, Tacchinardi; Nedved; Salas (Del Piero), Di Vaio.
Udinese (3-5-2): De Sanctis; Caballero, Sensini, Kroldrup; Alberto, Pinzi, Pizarro, Jankulovski; Gemiti; Jorgensen, Muzzi.
soccerage.com