Chievo v Juventus – Preview: Allegri at the ready

Date: 29th August 2014 at 11:00pm
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On Saturday, Juventus travel to Verona to meet Chievo at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegod for the start of the 2014/15 Serie A season.

All eyes will be on this match, not only as the first game of the Italian league, but also as the first in Serie A for Juventus under new coach, Massimiliano Allegri.

Allergri and his position at Juventus have been under heavy scrutiny since his taking charge of i bianconeri from Antonio Conte, who was recently appointed to the Italian National Team.

With the current title defenders now under Allegri’s helm, many will judge his team’s first performance against Chievo as the standard to be expected for the rest of the season.

In other words, there is no rest for the wicked; the defending Scudetto winners will have to start this season in top form. There is already massive pressure placed on Allegri to re-create Juventus’ previous season under Conte – which ended in 33 wins, three draws, and only two losses for a total of 102 points – and the first match has not yet been played.

However, do not let the Juventus storyline overshadow the match; Chievo will also be out there looking for the win, as well as a chance to prove themselves.

The Flying Donkeys ended last season in serious risk of relegation to Serie B –  finishing just four points and two places shy of the drop zone – with a record of 10 win, six draws, 22 losses, amassing to just 36 total points. They will no doubt take advantage of Juventus’ current transitional structure to secure three points at home. However, the task will not be a frolic in the field for Chievo.

Juventus beat Chievo both meetings last season: a 3-1 thrashing in Torino and a heartbreaking 2-1 in Verona, where the winning Bianconeri goal came late in match from Chievo’s Alessandro Bernardini.

In fact, Chievo has only beaten Juventus once in Serie A, by a single goal during the 2009/10 season. But that could all change this weekend.

Along with the added extra pressure that will accompany Allegri, Juventus is also ridden by absentees in their roster; most notable is the sidelining of Andrea Pirlo, who is expected to be out for a month while recovering from a pulled tendon in his rectus femori.

Also out for the match are Andrea Barzagli (ankle injury) and Giorgio Chiellin (suspension). Additionally, there have been reports of the flu affecting Sebastian Giovinco, Fernando Llorente, Roberto Pereyra, as well as Allegri himself.

Expected Starting XIs

Chievo – Bardi, Dainelli, Gamberini, Cesar, Frey, Hetemaj, Radovanovic, Birsa, Lazarevic, Lopez, Pellissier

Juventus – Buffon, Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Ogbonna, Evra, Pogba, Asamoah, Marchisio, Vidal, Tevez, Llorente

 

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