Aiming to continue their long dominance of the Derby della Mole, Serie A giants Juventus tackle city rivals Torino on Saturday evening.
In all competitions, Juve are undefeated in their last 18 Turin derbies, winning 14, and they head into this week's clash five points clear of the Granata in the Serie A standings.
Match preview
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Keeping their second successive clean sheet, Juventus played out a drab goalless draw with fellow top-four contenders Atalanta BC last weekend, leaving them four points adrift of both Milan clubs, who lead the way in Serie A after seven rounds.
A week after beating early-season surprise package Lecce 1-0, the Bianconeri were indebted to a superb Wojciech Szczesny save for preserving a point in Bergamo, where their makeshift strikeforce failed to gel and barely made an imprint on La Dea's defence.
Injuries to Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik meant Italian duo Federico Chiesa and Moise Kean were paired up front, but even if Juve continue to falter in the final third, they can still rely on an impressive defensive record.
Having kept seven clean sheets in their last 12 league matches stretching back to last season, Juventus are joint-top of the shut-out standings since Max Allegri's return to the club in August 2021: 37 is a total equalled only by Napoli.
It may not have made for fascinating football, but Allegri's aim of restoring Juve to former glories - perhaps even getting them back into Scudetto contention after two controversy-scarred years - remains resolute.
A visit to Milan just before the international break will soon see the Bianconeri tackle one of their main rivals in that regard, but first they must deal with more local matters.
Heading into the latest Derby della Mole, Juve have posted three wins and one draw from the last four, scoring at least once each time, so another victory is expected for Turin's dominant team at the Allianz Stadium.
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Not only are Juventus the club Torino have lost most games and conceded most goals to in their Serie A history, the Granata have also won just one of the teams' last 34 league meetings, losing on no fewer than 25 occasions.
Indeed, the last Turin derby they won on away turf came back in April 1995, so precedent is certainly stacked against Ivan Juric's side when they cross the city this weekend.
A well-drilled outfit, Torino joined Juve in playing out a 0-0 draw last week, when they failed to break down Hellas Verona. As a result, Toro have now failed to score in three of their first seven matches and last found the net through Duvan Zapata's late strike against Roma nearly two weeks ago.
Nevertheless, their defensive discipline under Juric has seen them face only 68 shots so far - the third-lowest tally in Serie A this season.
Having taken only one point from games against both Rome clubs before going goalless versus Verona, the Granata now enter one of their toughest tests on the back of a three-match winless streak; and after a promising start to the 2023-24 campaign, they are mired in mid-table again.
Team News
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Still plagued by a back problem, Juve's star striker Dusan Vlahovic has been ruled out of the Derby della Mole, but Arkadiusz Milik returns from a calf injury in time to feature up front.
Despite a dire display last week, Moise Kean will deputise for Federico Chiesa, who has been directly involved in five goals during his last seven league matches against Torino but will be sidelined on Saturday.
Alex Sandro, Paul Pogba and Mattia De Sciglio are also unavailable for various reasons, but Bremer is set to overcome a muscular issue and start at the heart of the hosts' back three.
Torino have a long list of absentees to contend with too, as Brandon Soppy (hamstring) and Saba Sazonov (foot) recently joined Alessandro Buongiorno, Mergim Vojvoda and Koffi Djidji in the treatment room.
As Pietro Pellegri continues to struggle for fitness and Antonio Sanabria has been short of his best, summer signing Duvan Zapata is expected to lead Toro's front line on Saturday.
The Colombian has notched six Serie A goals versus Juventus in the past, with both of the most recent two arriving at the Allianz Stadium; he also joins Napoli's Giovanni Simeone in scoring more times than anyone else against the Bianconeri since 2016.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; McKennie, Fagioli, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Kean, Milik
Torino possible starting lineup:
Milinkovic-Savic; Schuurs, Tameze, Rodriguez; Bellanova, Ilic, Ricci, Lazaro; Vlasic, Karamoh; Zapata
We say: Juventus 1-0 Torino
Only two teams have more clean sheets than either Torino or Juventus in Serie A this season, and both clubs' coaches are tactically rigorous with an emphasis on organisation. Therefore, a low-scoring derby is on the cards for Saturday evening, and - as ever - Juve will come out on top.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
