In the closing curtain of Serie A Round 27, Juventus will host Hellas Verona at the Allianz Stadium in Turin with the hopes of cutting the deficit with league leaders Inter to just six points.
While this represents a golden opportunity for the Bianconeri, routine victories have never been a guarantee for a club that drew 13 out of 26 league contests this season. They were even held 1-1 by Empoli on Wednesday before falling short on penalty shootouts and suffering an embarrassing elimination from the Coppa Italia, hence the tensed atmosphere in Turin.
Nevertheless, Thiago Motta will be hoping to put all the negative backlash from midweek (including his own outburst) behind and focus on securing a valuable win.
So which players will the 42-year-old deploy this evening?
The manager revealed that Francisco Conceicao was the latest to join the injury list.
“Cabal, Bremer, Milik, Conceicao, Douglas Luiz, Renato Veiga and Savona will not be there. We have seven absences,” revealed Motta on his press conference, while adding that Pierre Kalulu is available once more.
Nevertheless, the Frenchman will likely start on the bench, with Federico Gatti and Lloyd Kelly maintaining their roles at the heart of the backline. Timothy Weah and Andrea Cambiaso should start as well, thus keeping the backline intact from the previous fixture. However, Michele Di Gregorio will regain his spot, thus dropping Mattia Perin to the bench.
In the middle of the park, Khephren Thuram and Manuel Locatelli will operate in the double pivot. Most sources, including La Gazzetta dello Sport, tip Weston McKennie to play as an attacking midfielder, by Sky Sport Italia expect Teun Koopmeiners to start.
Finally, Kenan Yildiz and Nico Gonzalez will take the wings, while Randal Kolo Muani leads the line.
Juventus Probable XI (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; Weah, Gatti, Kelly, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Yildiz, McKennie (Koopmeiners), Gonzalez; Kolo Muani.
