Verdict: Cristiano Ronaldo to score two or more goals
Best odds: 12/5
Bookmaker: William Hill
Juventus are set to welcome Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium half an hour after the noon bells ring in Turin on Sunday, for a game that will be a part of round 22 of the 2019/20 season in Serie A.
Juventus
Still sitting at the top of the league, the Old Lady now need the points available in every game probably more than they ever have since their so far undisturbed title-winning run began back in 2013. They have 51 points to their name from the previous 21 games, and Inter Milan are hot on their heels with just three less in the bag.
Juventus are a team that has been invested in heavily, by anybody’s standards, and at the moment, they cannot afford any slip-ups if they are to keep their crown in domestic football. They’ve already lost the Super Cup to Lazio, and though their main goal remains to win the Champions League, they certainly won’t be giving up on the Serie A title easily.
Lazio were also the last team to beat them in the league as well, back in early December, until Napoli turned out capable of the feat as well last week. Between those two defeats, they had a good run during which they beat Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, Udinese, Sampdoria, Cagliari, Roma and Parma. In this match they’ll be looking to get six points clear of Inter, at least for a few hours as the Nerazzurri play away to Udinese in the evening that same day.
Team News
Boss Mauruzio Sarri still without the services of defenders Giorgio Chiellini , Merih Demiral and Danilo through injury, as well as midfielder Sami Khedira. The involvement of defender Mattia De Sciglio and midfiedler Miralem Pjanic is being considered, but both are expected to be ready for this game.
It will be interesting to see who partners Cristiano Ronaldo upfront this time, with both Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala hoping to get picked.
Fiorentina
Some years back, Fiorentina were rightly considered among the best teams in Italy, but this today is not a team boasting players like Gabriel Batistuta, Predrag Mijatovic or Manuel Rui Costa anymore. They finished fourth in 2014/15, but since then they’ve been steadily regressing, and they barely escaped relegation last season. At the moment, they are sitting in 13th place with 25 points, with a 10-pint cushion between them and SPAL topping the relegation zone. They should be quite safe this time, but they will probably be looking upwards and try hard to join the teams fighting for a place in Europe.
Their recent form can be described as quite decent. Since losing at home to Roma in December, they won two, drew two and lost one – last week against Inter, but their two wins include a feat which Juventus proved incapable of – a triumph against Napoli at the San Paolo in Naples.
Team News
Former Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery is unavailable due to injury. Head coach Giuseppe Iachini also won’t be able to call upon defenders Martin Caceres and Nikola Milenkovic who are both suspended, which means Luca Ranieri and Federico Ceccherini could be handed places in the starting XI. Midfielder Gaetano Castrovilli should be ready to play after overcoming an illness.
Conclusion
This isn’t a game where Fiorentina will have expected to book any points. They will try, and hope, but realistically speaking, the quality of this Juventus team should be enough to see them go home empty-handed.
Ronaldo has been on incredible form, recently. The former Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United and Real Madrid star has scored in each of the last eight league games, and he is likely to continue that streak in this one by scoring more than once.
Verdict: Cristiano Ronaldo to score two or more goals
Best odds: 12/5
Bookmaker: William Hill
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