Serie A Preview: Juventus v Chievo

Juventus can bounce back from their surprise draw with Verona by continuing their flawless Serie A home record against Chievo on Sunday.

Antonio Conte’s side sit nine points clear of Roma at the top of the table, while Chievo arrive in Turin just a point clear of the relegation zone aiming to do something no other team has managed in the league this term – avoid defeat at Juventus Stadium.

Juve looked set to record a 20th win from 23 games this season at Verona after a Carlos Tevez double put them 2-0 up, but uncharacteristically sloppy defending saw them concede twice in the second half, including a 94th-minute leveller from Juan Ignacio Gomez Taleb.

However, the champions will feel confident of getting back to winning ways against Verona’s relegation-threatened local rivals, who are on an eight-game run without a victory in Serie A.

Chievo have taken just 18 points from 23 outings this term, but head coach Eugenio Corini remains optimistic about their chances in Turin and wants his players to take inspiration from Verona’s result against Juve.

“We’re up against a battleship, but you just have to look to Verona to see that sometimes, Juve are susceptible,” he said.

“Football has taught us over the years that no team is unbeatable. We will go there with that message in our heads.”

New loan signing Leandro Paredes is still not ready to make his Chievo debut, and Corini is also without Luca Rigoni (flu) and Bostjan Cesar (suspended).

On-loan Southampton striker Pablo Daniel Osvaldo returned to Juve training on Friday after suffering with flu, but Simone Pepe (thigh), Giorgio Chiellini (calf) and Mirko Vucinic (knee) are all expected to miss out.

Juve have not lost to Chievo in their previous seven Serie A meetings, with the Turin club’s last defeat to the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi outfit coming in January 2010.