Hellas Verona vs Juventus

Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi is the venue as Hellas Verona look to add insult to injury to Juventus’ sluggish start to this Serie A camapign.

Verona’s decision to appoint Igor Tudor as their new chief of staff in mid-September has turned their fortunes around, with the ‘Gialloblu’ going from a three-game losing Serie A start to suffering just one loss across their last seven league matches (W3, D3). There is plenty of reason for optimism in the home camp that they can keep their form trajectory on the upward curve, as they’ve gone unbeaten in their last three Serie A meetings with Juventus (W1, D2). Additionally, the hosts take the field amid a run of three consecutive Serie A victories at home, all of which saw them score 3+ goals while conceding a total of three in return. Another bright spot has been Verona’s bounce-back ability, as they’ve avoided defeat in 50% of the Serie A matches in which they conceded first this term (W1, D1, L2).

On the other hand, Juventus’ mixed start to the season has experienced another underwhelming episode, as they’ve gone from four straight Serie A victories to back-to-back league games without winning (D1, L1). A shocking 2-1 home defeat to Sassuolo in midweek left Juve a staggering 13 points behind the leading duo, Napoli and AC Milan, and another negative outcome here could effectively shut down their title hopes. Luckily for Massimiliano Allegri, his men have found the net in each of their last nine Serie A games away from home, suggesting they should not have problems penetrating Verona’s backline here. However, a return of 13 goals after ten Serie A rounds represents Juventus’ worst defensive tally at this stage of the season since 1988/89, which is a reason for concern.