Kicking off their defence of the Coppa Italia trophy, 14-time winners Juventus welcome Serie A strugglers Sampdoria to the Allianz Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Despite missing out in the Suppercoppa last week, the holders have won six of their last eight games in the league, and will meet a side under caretaker management as they aim to set up a quarter-final with Sassuolo or Cagliari.
Match preview
© Reuters
Ending a rollercoaster week with a relatively regulation win over Udinese on Saturday - when Paulo Dybala opened the scoring - Juventus have certainly had an eventful start to 2022.
After securing a point against old rivals Napoli to get the new year under way, the Bianconeri staged a stunning comeback in a seven-goal thriller away to Roma, when they edged out their fellow top four contenders 4-3 at Stadio Olimpico.
That joy soon evaporated in midweek, though, as first Federico Chiesa was ruled out for the remainder of the season with an ACL tear and then Juve were beaten by a last-minute goal from their fiercest foes in the Supercoppa Italiana.
An intense Derby d'Italia was settled by the last kick of the game at San Siro, as Alexis Sanchez snatched the trophy for Inter with a 121st-minute winner - the cup winners falling short against the Scudetto holders who deposed them last May.
Though a period of turmoil has seen the Old Lady slip behind the Milan clubs over the past 18 months, Juventus enter the Coppa Italia at the last 16 stage this week with memories still lingering of their victory over Atalanta in last year's final - when Chiesa scored the winner.
Max Allegri's men will be among the favourites to extend the club's record tally of Coppa triumphs this term, having already claimed at least five more than any other team, and can reasonably expect to repeat the result secured on Sampdoria's most recent visit to the Allianz Stadium last September, with Dybala again among the goals in a 3-2 win.
© Reuters
Having lost all three of their fixtures since the winter break, Sampdoria are sinking closer to the drop zone in Serie A, so will perhaps welcome the break provided by a free-hit cup tie they are roundly expected to lose.
Head coach Roberto D'Aversa was shown the door after seeing his side follow a 2-1 home defeat to Cagliari - who had won just one previous league game at that stage - with their 11th and 12th league losses over the past two weekends.
The Blucerchiati were beaten only by a single goal away to Napoli, but then proceeded to lose on home soil again in Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Torino - with Francesco Caputo's opener being ultimately rendered meaningless by the concession of their 39th and 40th goals in Serie A.
Indeed, Samp have actually fared better away from Marassi in the top flight this term, though both of their Coppa Italia victories to reach this stage came at their Genoese headquarters.
Twice coming from behind to escape a first round elimination versus Serie B side Alessandria back in August, the Ligurians then enjoyed a 2-1 win over Torino to progress to the final 16.
Veteran striker Fabio Quagliarella opened the scoring in both ties, as his illustrious career winds down in a series of substitute and cup appearances, and the ex-Juve forward would love to upset the odds and find a winner against his old club on Tuesday.
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Amid a busy start to the year, Juventus coach Max Allegri may take the opportunity to rest a few weary legs in midweek, while bringing some fresh blood into the side.
Kaio Jorge and Moise Kean could be in contention to feature on Tuesday, but veteran defender Leonardo Bonucci - a scorer in the 3-2 win over Sampdoria in the autumn - is not expected to be ready to return just yet and Federico Bernardeschi also sits out.
Back-up goalkeeper Mattia Perin, who replaced Wojciech Szczesny as Juve's last line of defence in the Suppercoppa loss, is set to start. However, Aaron Ramsey again joins long-term injury victim Federico Chiesa on the sidelines, while both Matthijs de Ligt and Moise Kean are suspended.
Meanwhile, Samp will have centre-back Julian Chabot back at their disposal, as he returns from suspension, but the injured trio of Mikkel Damsgaard, Maya Yoshida and Valerio Verre remain out of commission.
Centre-back Omar Colley - currently captaining Gambia at the Africa Cup of Nations - will miss out too, though goalkeeper Emil Audero, who was forced off against Napoli with a hip injury, may be passed fit in time to travel to Turin. Substitute stopper Wladimiro Falcone is on standby if required.
The visitors have given former Milan full-back Andrea Conti and Venezuela midfielder Tomas Rincon their respective debuts during the past week, and both are in contention to start, but Stefano Sensi's loan deal from Inter has yet to be completed.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Perin; De Sciglio, Rugani, Chiellini, Pellegrini; Arthur, Locatelli, Rabiot; Jorge, Kulusevski; Morata
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Conti, Ferrari, Chabot, Murru; Candreva, Rincon, Thorsby, Ciervo; Gabbiadini, Quagliarella
We say: Juventus 2-0 Sampdoria
Just two points and four goals from five league games sees Sampdoria arrive in Turin as serious outsiders and bereft of confidence at either end of the field.
Juventus, having won their last five Serie A matches against Samp while scoring at least two goals each time, can afford to rotate their squad and still find the winning formula - taking the first step towards retaining the trophy.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Juventus win with a probability of 70.93%. A draw had a probability of 17.7% and a win for Sampdoria had a probability of 11.38%.
The most likely scoreline for a Juventus win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.13%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.69%) and 2-1 (9.53%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.4%), while for a Sampdoria win it was 0-1 (3.7%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 4.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Juventus would win this match.
