Genoa v Juventus – Preview: Grifone attempt to end Bianconeri dominance

Date: 28th October 2014 at 8:46am
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Juventus will travel to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Wednesday night where the Bianconeri will put their unbeaten record on the line against Genoa.

Massimiliano Allegri’s men are coming off a 2-0 home domination of Palermo which saw Fernando Llorente get his first Serie A goal of the season.

Meanwhile, Genoa are undefeated in six of their last seven matches, including Sunday’s late win thanks to Mauricio Pinilla. Genoa currently sit mid-table with 12 points, and the team have shown an acute ability to get late goals. All three wins this season have come with the winning goal after the 85th minute.

Sunday’s  2-1 come from behind win over Chievo came courtesy of Gian Piero Gasperini’s decision to pair Alessandro Matri and Pinilla together after the team went a goal down in the first half. Against Juventus, Gasperini will most likely start with one striker, something that he has done throughout the season. This has been one reason the team have found goals hard to come by.

Juventus continue to roll in Serie A as the distance between themselves and second place Roma is now three points. The champions are averaging two goals a game, but Genoa have been adequate at the back despite showing a few cracks. The Grifone’s defence, led by Luca Antonelli and Sebastien De Maio have given up a mere eight goals in eight games. A far cry from years past.

In 2006, these two rivals met in Serie B, following Juventus’ relegation due to Calciopoli, for the first time since the mid-90s. At the end of that season both teams were promoted to Serie A. Since that first meeting in 2006-07, Juventus have won ten of the teams’ 16 meetings. In that time, Genoa have tallied a solitary win, which came in April 2009. The Bianconeri have dominated the last two meetings winning 2-0 and 1-0, respectively.

One factor that could impact upon how both teams play will be the pitch at the Marassi. Due to the massive flooding in the Genoa area over the last few weeks, the pitch and the stadium have been affected.

The playing surface has cut up very easily in the last two games played at the stadium (Genoa v Empoli; Sampdoria v Roma). The surface has caused problems with shooting, passing and footing, and should continue to cause havoc on Wednesday night as both teams try to continue their unbeaten runs.

Expected Starting XIs

Genoa: Perin, Antonelli, De Maio, Burdisso, Edenilson, Bertolacci, Kucka, Greco, Falque, Perotti, Matri

Juventus: Buffon, Ogbonna, Bonucci, Chiellini, Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Marchisio, Pogba, Asamoah, Tevez, Llorente

 

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