Juventus v Palermo – Preview: Juve look to return to winning ways

Date: 24th October 2014 at 8:40am
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Juventus will look to overcome their recent drop in form this Sunday afternoon as they play host to Palermo in the eighth round of Serie A at Juventus Stadium.

The Bianconeri will be keen to bounce back from their surprise Champions League defeat against Olympiacos and the fact they dropped their first league points of the season in their previous match against lowly Sassuolo.

Meanwhile, the Rosanero will be in high spirits after they secured their first win of the season against Cesena following two successive heavy defeats against Empoli and Napoli.

History will be on the side of Juventus as the last four league fixtures between these two have all ended in wins for the Turin side and Palermo failed to score in each of those games. The last time the two sides faced off was back in May 2013 when an Arturo Vidal penalty was enough to see the Bianconeri earn the win.

Juventus, under new head coach Massimiliano Allegri had started the Serie A season in fine form, winning their first six games before stuttering to a 1-1 draw with Sassuolo. They have also managed to emerge victorious in every game they have played at Juventus stadium this season, including the Champions League.

The Rosanero, under the guidance of Giuseppe Iachini have struggled playing away from the Stadio Renza Barbera and have just one point from their opening three away games in their remarkable 3-3 draw with Napoli.

Iachini has no fresh injuries to players to be concerned about and has a full strength squad at his disposal for Sunday’s game and is likely to name a similar line-up to the one that faced Cesena last time out.

The Bianconeri, on the back of their trip to Greece will be wary of the fitness of Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal but will be without the suspended Simone Padoin following his late dismissal against Sassuolo. They will also be missing the likes of Martin Caceres, Andrea Barzagli through injury whereas they are hopeful on the situations of Romulo, Luca Marrone and Simone Pepe.

Allegri is likely to keep faith with Alvaro Morata, who is line to make his first league start for the club, to partner Carlos Tevez in attack ahead of the goalless Fernando Llorente.

Expected Starting XIs

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

Palermo: Sorrentino; Munoz, Gonzalez, Andelkovic; Pisano, Bolzoni, Rigoni, Barreto, Feddal; Vazquez, Dybala

 

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