Following Coppa Italia heartbreak last week, Juventus seek victory in their final home game of an underwhelming season, as they welcome fifth-placed Lazio to Turin on Monday.
While the Bianconeri lost Wednesday's cup final in extra time, to follow a disappointing Serie A defeat at Genoa, their visitors have posted back-to-back wins to keep themselves in contention for European qualification.
Match preview
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Amid signs of terminal drift towards the end of another trying season - one which is set to end trophyless for the first time in over a decade - Juventus have now lost successive matches, after defeat in a special Derby d'Italia edition of the Coppa Italia final.
Though they showed great character to fight back from a goal down to lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the initial 90, Juve were ultimately vanquished by Ivan Perisic's extra-time brace, which helped arch-rivals Inter over the line after Hakan Calhanoglu had slotted home an 80th-minute penalty.
Following February's dramatic Supercoppa Italiana defeat to the same opponents, who last season deposed them as Scudetto holders after nine years of domestic dominance, the Bianconeri have missed out entirely on silverware and also seem set to finish fourth in Serie A.
Last week's loss at lowly Genoa was the latest in a long line of slip-ups by the ailing Old Lady, who have conceded at least once in each of their last six league games, after Max Allegri had previously shored up their rearguard amid a commendably consistent run.
Having last endured a longer streak without keeping a clean sheet this time last year, at the end of Andrea Pirlo's doomed reign, they will hope that the identity of this week's visitors can aid their pursuit of third-placed Napoli, as Lazio are one of Juve's favourite opponents of recent times.
Under Allegri, Juventus have won 10 of 11 meetings with the Roman side in Serie A; also scoring at an average of 2.4 goals per game in the clubs' last eight encounters at the Allianz Stadium and picking up seven wins in the process.
Including a 2-0 victory in Rome when the sides last met, in November - with Leonardo Bonucci striking twice from the spot - the Bianconeri have won 12 of their last 15 against Lazio all told, so will certainly start as favourites.
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Having taken just a point from their previous two matches, successive wins against Serie A strugglers Spezia and Sampdoria have boosted Lazio's hopes of securing Europa League qualification, as an inconsistent campaign nears its conclusion.
Therefore three points clear of city rivals Roma in the table with two games left to go, the Biancocelesti were also closely trailed by both Atalanta and Fiorentina before the penultimate round - meaning they can ill afford any errors in the coming week.
After undertaking the trip to Turin, Maurizio Sarri's men will return to the capital for next Sunday's Serie A finale, when Hellas Verona arrive at Stadio Olimpico.
Though recent precedent suggests they will be up against it to take maximum points from their final away game, the Aquile come up against Sarri's former club having won five of their last seven away games in the top flight, including both of their two most recent road trips.
An all-too-brief spell in charge at Juve ended in some acrimony for the ex-Chelsea coach, and he has lost six of his previous nine league games against them, so Lazio's idiosyncratic manager would dearly love to get the better of his old team on Monday night.
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Team News
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Max Allegri now has a handful of previously unavailable men at his disposal, as midfielder Manuel Locatelli is back in contention after missing the last five league games, while Luca Pellegrini has overcome an ankle sprain and fellow full-back Mattia De Sciglio returns after a Coppa Italia suspension.
The latter should replace Danilo at right-back, but Weston McKennie may not recover from a long injury layoff in time to feature - however, he could be back in the fold before the end of the season.
In attack, Paulo Dybala has previously scored nine times against Lazio in 15 previous matches for Juventus, including one on his debut for the club. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, no-one else has found the net more times against the Biancocelesti in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Lazio's Ciro Immobile has scored only four Serie A goals against Monday's hosts, but three of those have come in his last four matches at the Allianz Stadium.
Currently leading the Capocannoniere standings by four from his nearest challenger, Juve's Dusan Vlahovic, the league's 27-goal top scorer should be joined by Mattia Zaccagni and Felipe Anderson in an attacking trident, if he can shake off an ankle problem.
Another attacking weapon will be back in the squad this week, too, as veteran winger Pedro returns after enduring a two-month absence due to a calf injury.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; De Sciglio, Bonucci, Chiellini, Pellegrini; Locatelli, Miretti; Bernardeschi, Dybala, Morata; Vlahovic
Lazio possible starting lineup:
Strakosha; Lazzari, Patric, Acerbi, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Alberto; Anderson, Immobile, Zaccagni
We say: Juventus 1-1 Lazio
Should they lose to Lazio, this will be just the second Serie A season in which Juventus have taken fewer points on home soil than when playing away, which demonstrates their faded aura of invincibility in Turin.
The visitors - second-top scorers in Serie A this term - should have little fear of failure, given the state they find their opponents in, but are too defensively flaky to guarantee any more than a point.
For additional data used by our team to analyse our suggested result please click here.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
