On March 22 Genoa will make the relatively short trip north to Turin to face the runaway league leaders Juventus.
Juve will head into the game off the back of a morale-boosting 3-0 win away at Borussia Dortmund to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Genoa will be going into the game after a traumatic and unexpected 2-0 home defeat to Chievo.
However, the fixture does have an extra element of spice seeing. The Grifone are the only team to beat Juventus this season. The win came thanks to a last minute goal in October and the league leaders will focused and out for revenge.
Juve also have in their ranks two ex-Genoa players in Stefano Sturaro and Alessandro Matri who both enjoyed fruitful spells in Liguria but neither is expected to feature against their former employer.
The Old Lady have the luxury of a 14-point lead at the top of the table and will be able to rest some of the more jaded players and still put out an extremely strong side.
The visitors will be looking to get vital points as they’ve faded recently in the race for the Europa League and they sit eight points off fifth place.
Genoa will have to play their strongest side but recent form has been stuttering and Juventus Stadium is not a place where many escape downwards spirals.
The Bianconeri were dealt some bad news when it was reported that Paul Pogba will be out for 50 days after coming off injured in Germany during the week.
Pogba’s withdrawal through injury forced Massimiliano Allegri into the bold move of returning to a three-man defence after having abandoned it in favour of a four-man version earlier in the season. The Frenchman’s absence also reduces the likelihood of the game going down in folklore for a long-range screamer.
It is expected that Juve will face Genoa with three at the back and Andrea Barzagli is expected to stay in the side following his return from injury.
Romulo, Kwando Asamoah, Kingsley Coman, Andrea Pirlo, Luca Marrone and Martin Caceres all remain out injured for Juventus.
The Pogba-shaped hole in Juve’s midfield will increase the focus on Roberto Pereyra who has done a good job as a utility man and his speed allows him to quickly link midfield with the attack so it will be interesting to see if he can keep making the most of his opportunities.
Juventus have one suspension with Alvaro Morata obliged to sit out and Fernando Llorente is expected to start in his place.
Genoa have two important players out suspended in the form of the Venezualan midfielder Tomas Rincon and Spanish attacking midfielder Iago Falque.
The Grifone will also be without the elegant playmaker Tino Costa and Turin-born, former Juve midfielder Lorenzo Ariaudo.
Form Guide: Juve ( W-W-D-W-D-W), Genoa (L-D-D-W-W-D)
Expected Starting XIs
Juventus: Buffon; Barzagli, Ogbonna, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Marchisio, Pereyra, Evra; Llorente, Tevez.
Genoa: Perin; De Maio, Burdisso, Roncaglia; Edenilson, Kucka, Bertolacci, Bergdich; Perotti, Niang, Pavoletti.
