There’s no margin for error as Serie A top-four hopefuls Juventus tackle relegation-bound Monza in Sunday’s ‘make or break’ fixture. The tragic passing of Pope Francis pushed this encounter again for a day, handing Igor Tudor extra time to rally his troops after a midweek fiasco in Emilia-Romagna.
Juventus dropped out of the Serie A high 4 on the again of a horrendous 1-0 defeat at Parma on Wednesday. Regardless of trying 16 pictures, the record-time Italian champions relinquished their three-match unbeaten run underneath Tudor’s interim tenure (W2, D1), amplifying the necessity for all three factors towards the division’s backside performers.
Just one level adrift of fourth-placed Bologna, Juventus can’t afford a slip-up on the Allianz Stadium, the place they’ve reigned supreme in 2024/25. Certainly, they’ve solely misplaced one house league outing all season (W9, D7), beating bottom-half Lecce 2-1 of their solely such contest underneath the Croatian supervisor.
Juve’s indomitable house document makes for ominous studying for dead-last Monza, whose slim hopes of extending a two-year keep in Serie A took a deadly blow final weekend. Alessandro Nesta’s aspect held Scudetto-bidding Napoli scoreless for greater than 70 minutes, solely to stoop to a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat at Stadio Brianteo.
Consequently, they completed the final spherical nailed to the foot of the desk, a whopping 11 factors beneath security. Subsequently, one other disappointing end in Turin might seal their top-flight standing with 4 video games to spare, supplied outcomes elsewhere don’t go their means.
Match Preview
Juventus
Wednesday’s heartache at Parma has eradicated wriggle room from the equation, forcing Juventus to deal with each sport within the run-in like a last. With Tudor’s honeymoon interval over, it’s time to select up the slack, and there’s no higher place than Turin to accommodate Juventus’ fast return to profitable methods.
Certainly, Juventus have emerged victorious from six of their final seven league outings on the Allianz Stadium (L1), reinforcing their confidence find a means again into the win column this weekend. Moreover, three of their 5 remaining league video games come towards bottom-half groups, protecting their Champions League aspirations firmly alive.
Juventus have been ruthless in house matches towards sides outdoors the highest eight at the beginning of this spherical, racking up a powerful seven wins and three attracts in such encounters. With 5 of these seven triumphs accompanied by a clear sheet, one purpose could doubtlessly assist the Bianconeri keep away from back-to-back league losses for the second time this time period.
Monza
Objective-shy Monza should upset the apple cart to depart Turin undefeated. With 25 targets, they’re Serie A’s worst attacking group. That spells bother for Nesta’s expenses, contemplating they tackle a Juventus group boasting a league-high 15 clear sheets to their identify. Nonetheless, it’s solely the tip of the iceberg.
Monza have solely picked up two factors from the final 39 accessible (D2, L11), cementing their standing because the division’s worst-performing group. Notably sluggish on the street, Nesta’s males have misplaced six consecutive away league video games towards groups commencing this spherical within the high seven, highlighting the magnitude of the duty forward.
With the Biancorossi conceding 3+ targets in 4 of these six defeats, there’s an opportunity they might lose in unenviable style. Including to this sentiment, Monza have solely received one league sport on hostile turf all season (D4, L11). Moreover, they’ve misplaced their final three conferences with Juventus, together with a 2-1 defeat in December’s reverse fixture at Brianteo.
Group Information
Along with long-term absentees Arkadiusz Milik, Gleison Bremer, and Juan Cabal, Juventus can’t name upon the providers of Federico Gatti and Dusan Vlahovic for this showdown. As if that’s not worrying sufficient, Tudor will probably be with out Teun Koopmeiners and Samuel Mbangula.
Alternatively, Monza might be with out membership captain Matteo Pessina and several other different first-team stars, together with Keita Balde, Danilo D’Ambrosio, and Armando Izzo. Dany Mota and Gianluca Caprari will probably lead Monza’s misfiring frontline within the absence of Balde.
Juventus vs Monza Potential Beginning Line-ups
Juventus (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Veiga, Kelly; McKennie, Locatelli, Thuram, Cambiaso; Gonzalez, Yildiz; Kolo Muani.
Monza (3-5-2): Turati; Pereira, Caldirola, Carboni; Birindelli, Castrovilli, Bianco, Akpa Akpro, Kyriakopoulos; Mota, Caprari
Juventus vs Monza Prediction
Not even an injury-hit Juventus aspect ought to wrestle towards this Monza group. Whereas we wouldn’t go so far as to foretell a thrashing, this must be one other day within the workplace for Tudor’s top-four contenders.
Prediction: Juventus to Win
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