Salernitana vs Juventus

Underperforming Juventus will be looking to get their underwhelming Serie A season back on the rails when they meet newly-promoted Salernitana at Stadio Arechi.

Federico Bonazzoli’s last-gasp equalizer salvaged a point for Salernitana against fellow relegation strugglers Cagliari at the weekend (1-1), snapping a run of three Serie A reverses on the trot. With 17th-placed Spezia only three points ahead, Salernitana remain within touching distance of safety, but a poor home form can hardly inspire an upset here. ‘I Granata’ have only won one of their seven Serie A home fixtures this season (D1, L5), losing the last three in a row by an aggregate score of 7-2. Yet, Stefano Colantuono’s men will have an added motive to maintain their unbeaten overall Serie A home record against Juventus (W1, D1), as they could go unbeaten in back-to-back top-flight games for the first time this season. To do that, Salernitana will have to avoid conceding first, as they’ve lost five of six Serie A matches when falling behind this term (D1).

In the meantime, a 1-0 home defeat to Atalanta at the weekend saw Juventus drop seven points behind the coveted top-four, meaning they can ill-afford to lose more ground on the Champions League spots. That could be easier said than done, as ‘I Bianconeri’ have only won one of their last three Serie A away matches (D1, L1), falling behind within 20 minutes in both games they didn’t win in that sequence. Though it could sound a bit surprising, the record-time Italian champions have lost their last two Serie A encounters against newly-promoted teams and could lose three consecutive such affairs for the first time in the club’s history. A dark cloud is looming over the Allianz Stadium these days, as Juventus face the prospect of suffering three defeats in all competitions in a row for the first time since March 2011.