Palermo play host to Juventus at the Stadio Renzo Barbera in Serie A on Sunday night, with the visitors from Turin looking for their forth straight victory in Serie A.
The Rosanero will be looking to continue their own mini revival following four points from their previous two games, including a 1-1 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico last time out.
The Sicilians are currently 14th in the standings on 15 points after round 13 of the season, and sit only four points off relegation threatened Frosinone in 18th place. The Aquile have already suffered three home defeats at the Stadio Barbera this campaign, but did beat Chievo 1-0 in Giuseppe Iachini’s last game in charge before he was sacked two weeks ago. Their only other victory at home was a 1-0 win over Genoa on the opening day of the season, while they have lost to Sassuolo, Roma and Empoli since.
The Old Lady, meanwhile, have hit a purple patch following a disastrous start to the season by their standards, and will be looking for 12 points out of 12 in their last four Serie A encounters.
The Bianconeri find themselves in sixth position in the table on 21 points after 13 games. Massimiliano Allegri’s men recorded only their second win on the road two weeks ago with a 3-1 victory over Empoli. The Old Lady have tasted defeat on three occasions away from Turin so far this campaign, losing to Roma, Napoli and Sassuolo with a victory of Genoa sandwiched in between their only other victory on their travels.
The Turin giants won both fixtures between the sides last season, coming away from Sicily with a 1-0 victory in March this year, thanks to a Alvaro Morata second half goal. The first game in October 2014 ended 2-0 to the Bianconeri, with Arturo Vidal and Fernando Llorente getting on the score-sheet.
A win on Sunday for Juve would be their seventh in a row in Serie A against Davide Ballardini’s side, a run spanning back to the 2011/2012 season. The Rosanero did defeat the Old Lady in six out of the seven previous fixtures before that, and the last draw between the sides was way back in September 2004, with that game ending 1-1 in Turin.
Palermo will be without injured defender Roberto Vitiello and striker Uros Djurdjevic who are not expected back until January.
The Bianconeri have doubts over defender Patrice Evra, midfielder Sami Khedira and forward Mario Mandzukic, while midfielders Hernanes, Simone Padoin and Roberto Pereyra are ruled out until December.
Form Guide: Palermo (D-L-L-W-D) Juventus (W-D-W-W-W)
Expected Starting XI’s:
Palermo: Sorrentino; Struna, Gonzalez, Goldaniga, Lazaar; Hiljemark, Jajalo, Rigoni; Vazquez, Brugman; Gilardino.
Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Sturaro, Marchisio, Pogba; Cuadrado, Morata, Dybala.
