Match Preview: Juventus

Bologna face off against Juventus for a late-night matchup on Saturday. With them still fighting for the Scudetto, this match will be very difficult to get something out of for Roberto Dondoni’s men. Here is our match preview.

The game against Milan last weekend was a positive one despite the result. The improvement was drastic from the game against Cagliari, which strengthens the claim that Bologna tend to up their game against stronger opposition. Nevertheless, if Bologna play at the same level as against Milan for the three remaining games, this season will end up as a better one than last season.

Of the three remaining games, Juventus is definitely the toughest. Their quality needs no introduction, and even though the Scudetto race has been tighter this year than what has been the case in recent years, it now seems like they will win it yet again after Napoli’s loss against Fiorentina, and themselves winning against Inter.

News:

As for the injury news, there is quite a lot of it at the moment. Blerim Dzemaili, Filip Helander, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Erick Pulgar and Godfred Donsah have all been receiving treatment over the last couple of games, and they are all therefore highly questionable against Juventus.

With all of the aforementioned injuries, Donadoni will get the chance to give some of his fringe players a chance to impress. In defence, Simone Romagnoli will most likely step in, especially given his recent good performances. It would be interesting to see Cheick Keita in for Adam Masina, but that is doubtful against such strong opposition.

How Donadoni decides to set up his midfield will be interesting given the amount of injuries. Andrea Poli is a given, whilst Adam Nagy should start. That leaves only Lorenzo Crisetig, if not the coach decides to go for a change in formation, away from a midfield three.

For instance, it could be a smart move to go for a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Poli and Nagy at the base of the midfield, and with Verdi, Falletti and Orsolini/Di Francesco in front of them. Mattia Destro is also back available for this game, and may start ahead of Rodrigo Palacio. Only time will tell.

Expected line-up:

Bologna (4-3-3): Mirante; M’baye, De Maio, Romagnoli, Masina; Poli, Crisetig, Nagy; Verdi, Palacio, Orsolini

I have literally no expectations for a decent result in this match. Juventus have extremely talented players in every position, and given the importance of the game for them, they’ll most likely get the result they want. That being said, I do look forward to seeing some of the fringe players get a chance to play, and, as Crotone and Spal have shown in recent weeks, Juventus are far from perfect.

What are your expectations of the match? Let us know in the comments below!