Serie A Preview: Chievo v Juventus

Juventus are out to continue their unbeaten start to the Serie A season when they visit Chievo on Wednesday.

Antonio Conte’s side have won three and drawn one of their opening four league games to get their bid for a third straight Scudetto off to a strong start.

Their latest success did not come without complications though, as they had to come from behind to defeat Chievo’s neighbours Hellas Verona 2-1 at the Juventus Stadium on Sunday.

Fabrizio Cacciatore put the away side ahead, but Carlos Tevez equalised before Fernando Llorente scored the winner in first-half injury time on his first start for the club.

And the Spain international is targeting further improvement as he settles in Turin.

“I normally take a bit of time to hit top form and knew I’d have to work a great deal, also because I pretty much missed the whole of last season,” he told the club’s official website.

“In addition I needed to settle in and learn the language, and adapting to a new environment is never an easy task for anyone.

“I’m getting on great here and feel the manager has faith in me, but I know I need to keep working to get back into peak condition.”

Conte made five changes for the victory over Verona, but goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, and defenders Stephan Lichtsteiner and Giorgio Chiellini could earn recalls against Chievo.

Winger SImone Pepe is likely to miss out again with a thigh problem, although midfielder Claudio Marchisio could start after coming on as a substitute in the win over Verona after a long-standing knee injury.

Giuseppe Sannino’s side have not beaten Juve since January 2010, although they have drawn four of the previous six Serie A encounters between the sides.

And Chievo will head into this showdown with the champions buoyed by their first league success of the season after they defeated Udinese 2-1 on Saturday.

Srikes from Sergio Pellissier and Luca Rigoni before half-time ensured the three points after Maicosuel had put the visitors in front after just one minute at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.

Pellissier and Alberto Paloschi are likely to once more lead the line against Juve, while midfielder Aless
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io Sestu is expected to feature despite taking a knock in the victory over Udinese.