Juventus head into Saturday's Serie A encounter with Parma sitting 11 points clear at the top of the standings, but Massimiliano Allegri's side were dumped out of the Coppa Italia by Atalanta BC in midweek.
Parma make the trip to Turin having lost two of their last three games, but Roberto D'Aversa's men are placed comfortably in 12th position in the table.
Juventus
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Allegri has successfully won a league and cup double in each of his four completed seasons at Juventus, but a fifth will not materialise after the club's stunning exit from the Coppa Italia in midweek.
Juventus had registered a narrow win over Atalanta exactly a year ago to the day in 2018, but the underdogs were excellent as they inflicted a heavy defeat on the top team in the country.
Allegri had selected a strong starting lineup with Cristiano Ronaldo taking his place in the side, but Juventus never recovered from conceding two goals in three minutes at the end of the first half.
The setback was unexpected and could potentially suggest to Allegri that the summer may be the right time to leave the club, but there will also be a determination to put things right ahead of the Champions League double-header with Atletico Madrid.
That will be Juventus' priority going forward given the margin for error that they have given themselves in Serie A, but Allegri will want to be satisfied that his players have quickly overcome the disappointment of Wednesday night.
Juventus's fixture list is favourable ahead of their first meeting with the La Liga side, and it gives Allegri the opportunity to rotate his squad in order to ensure that he can select his best XI.
Ronaldo will want to remain in the starting lineup during the upcoming period, but the 33-year-old has already featured on 29 occasions this campaign and may benefit from having his game-time managed going forward.
The Portuguese has only scored one goal from open play in 388 minutes of football during 2019, and Allegri will want to be reassured that he has alternatives to the Manchester United and Real Madrid legend.
Recent form: WWDWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWWL
Parma
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Parma have enjoyed a terrific first season back in Serie A, and there appears to be little threat of relegation with the club currently 14 points clear of the relegation zone.
However, D'Aversa will still be eager to finish as high as possible in the table and it is not out of the question that a place in the Europa League could be achieved at the end of the season.
Parma are just five points adrift of seventh-placed Atalanta and while there are a number of teams in between, a couple of wins in a row will put the club right back in the mix.
The Gialloblu are not aided by their upcoming schedule which also includes meetings with Inter Milan and Napoli before the end of the month, but the flipside to that is that they are out of the way before the closing three months of the season.
There would have been huge disappointment inside the changing room last weekend having lost 3-2 at home to SPAL, a result which was registered with Parma having held a two-goal advantage heading into the final quarter.
D'Aversa will be aware that he has a job on his hands to lift his side, although the opportunity for the club to face Juventus on their travels for the first time in over four years should be enough to lift the spirits in the squad.
There will also be confidence from their last two away performances with victories being achieved on the road against both of Fiorentina and Udinese.
Roberto Inglese and Gervinho may have to add to their 14 Serie A goals in order for Parma to gain a result this weekend, but D'Aversa's men know how to win away from home and will have had significant more preparation time than their hosts ahead of this contest.
Recent form: LDWLWL
Team News
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Juventus have major problems in defence with Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli all missing for Saturday's fixture.
Mehdi Benatia has also left the club, and it means that Martin Caceres is likely to be thrown straight into the team after joining on loan from Lazio.
Sami Khedira, Miralem Pjanic and Mario Mandzukic have all recently returned to training after injury, and the trio may make the bench.
D'Aversa could potentially stick with the same starting lineup, with Juraj Kucka likely to be handed a second start after his transfer from Trabzonspor.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cancelo, Rugani, Caceres, Sandro; Can, Bentancur, Matuidi; Dybala, Ronaldo, Douglas Costa
Parma possible starting lineup:
Sepe; Iacoponi, Alves, Bastoni, Gagliolo; Barilla, Scozzarella, Kucka; Gervinho, Inglese, Biabiany
Head To Head
Juventus have dominated Italian football for a number of years, but their recent record against Parma is not as one-sided as you would expect.
Five of the last six contests have been decided by a one-goal margin, and Parma emerged victorious when hosting Juventus back in April 2015.
However, Juventus did record a 7-0 victory when the teams last met in Turin in November 2014.
We say: Juventus 3-0 Parma
Parma's task in Turin was already difficult enough, but Juventus' defeat in midweek has made it that extra bit tougher. Allegri will have his players fired up for this contest, and we expect the league leaders to ease to a routine win.
Darren Plant
