Juventus Continue Napoli Pursuit
Marco Iacobucci EPP / Shutterstock.com
The Serie A actions starts on Friday night this weekend and we have a great match in store as Juventus travel to Florence to play Fiorentina.
The hosts start this match in 11th place in Serie A and have won 31 points from their twenty-three games. Despite being in the bottom half of the table, they are well clear of the relegation zone but 7 points adrift of 6th place, which is the final European qualifying slot.
Juventus start the game in second, just 1 point behind league leaders Napoli. With a gap between them themselves and the teams below them in Serie A, Juventus know the title is now a two-horse race and must pick up maximum points from this game.
Fiorentina come into this game having defeated Bologna 2-1 away from home last weekend. This was a massive result for Stefano Pioli and his players, who recovered from a dreadful 4-1 home defeat at the hands of Hellas Verona the week before.
Trends show the win at Bologna was their first in six matches in all competitions and could not have been timed better ahead of this clash with the defending champions.
At home, Fiorentina have won only one of their last six Serie A games and that was back on the 3rd December against Sassuolo. However, while they have been struggling to win matches, they remain tough to beat on home soil and have lost only four of their last thirty Serie A matches at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Juventus recorded a resounding 7-0 win last weekend as they thrashed Sassuolo at home to keep the pressure on Napoli at the top of the table. The win provided a massive boost to their goal difference and they now sit on +44 for the season.
Trends show Juventus have won their last ten matches in all competitions and their defence has been back to its best during that run of games. They have kept nine clean sheets across those ten matches and conceded just a single goal, which is a tremendous record.
Juventus are unbeaten in their last ten Serie A matches and have lost just one of their last fifteen league games, which came at Sampdoria back in November.
Away from home in Serie A, Juventus have won their last five matches in a row, scoring 10 goals and conceding only one in the process.
Team news and Fiorentina have the luxury of a fully sit squad for this game, with no suspensions. Pioli will be tempted to keep the same starting XI from last weekend, which means a 4-3-3 formation and Giovanni Simeone leading the line.
Juventus are still without central defender Benedikt Howedes and could also miss Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado who are both struggling for fitness.
Fiorentina are a difficult team to predict and there is no doubt their players and fans will be up for this match. However, Juventus have found their groove and they should come away with the win, even if they fail to keep another clean sheet.
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