Prediction: Juventus vs Fiorentina

Verdict: Total goals over 2.5

Best odds: 6/10

Bookmaker: 888sport

Juventus will welcome Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Tuesday evening in a game that will be a part of the 14th round of the 2020-21 Serie A campaign. Points are very important for both teams at this point in the season, though for very different reasons.

Juventus

Juventus are currently on the hunt for their 10 Serie A title in a row, a truly remarkable detail which goes a long way to show how dominant they’ve been in the Italian top flight in the last decade. However, the last team to have won the title before that run started – AC Milan – are currently at the top of the table and undefeated in the previous 13 rounds, with Inter Milan wedged in between them and Juventus in third. The Old Lady also haven’t suffered a single loss this term, but their record of seven wins and six draws comes obviously short when compared to Milan’s of nine triumphs and four undecided ties.

Juventus beat Parma convincingly in their last outing, with Dejan Kulusevski, Cristiano Ronaldo (twice) and Alvaro Morata on target, while Buffon kept a clean sheet at the other end.

In all competitions, Juventus have a record of five wins and one draw in the last six matches. They’ve secured passage to the knockout stages of the Champions League by winning the race in Group G ahead of Barcelona. Dynamo Kyiv and Ferencvaros were there as well, with the Ukrainian side booking a place in the Europa League and the Hungarians ending their European adventure here.

Team News

Coach Andrea Pirlo is likely to be without Paulo Dybala for this clash with the Argentine forward suffering from a muscle strain. Midfielder Arthur, who picked up an injury against Atalanta, and defender Merih Demiral, who is still recovering from an injury of his own, are also likely to miss out.

Pirlo will probably choose to put Matthijs de Ligt into his back line again, and he might give this game to Wojciech Szczesny between the posts ahead of the legendary Gianluigi Buffon. Adrien Rabiot could feature in the middle of the park alongside Weston McKennie and Aaron Ramsey. Upfront, Cristiano Ronaldo will likely be joined by Alvaro Morata again.

Fiorentina

For years now, Fiorentina have been a pale shadow of the team they once were. As has been said above, they also need points from this game, as well as from any other for that matter, but their goal at the moment seems to be to avoid relegation. They are in 16th place with 11 points to their name, and things aren’t looking to well for them, despite the four-point cushion they have between them and Torino who top the red zone. Spezia in 17th have also 11.

The Viola won only one of their last six matches in all competitions, drawing three and losing two. Last time out, they faced Hellas Verona at their Stadio Artemio Franchi and drew 1-1 with Dusan Vlahovic scoring from the spot to cancel out the visitors’ opener from Miguel Veloso, also from the spot.

Team News

Against Verona, coach Cesare Prandelli organized his team in an interesting, rather defensive form of 3-5-1-1, and playing against the defending champions, he won’t be in a hurry to change that approach. He will practically have the full squad at his disposal.

Vlahovic will likely be leading the line again, supported by former Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery. Giacomo Bonaventura, Geatano Castrovilli and Sofyan Amrabat are set to represent the core of the team in the middle of the park. Nikola Milenkovic and Martin Caceres should be chosen to play either side of German Pezzella in defence, with Bartlomiej Drągowski in goal.

Conclusion

Looking ahead towards this contest with as much realism as possible, it’s bordering on impossible to imagine Fiorentina getting anything from this game, no disrespect meant. Teams battling for survival rarely go to the Allianz Arena with any hope of a result, and the visitors are certainly one of those right now.

But with the odds on Juventus winning being no more than 8/25 with 888sport, you could opt for a different approach – to back the two teams, for example to score at least three times combined.

Verdict: Total goals over 2.5

Best odds: 6/10

Bookmaker: 888sport