Italian giants Juventus are set to get their season underway with a home clash against Sassuolo in Serie A on Monday night.
After being nowhere close to mounting a title challenge in the last two seasons, Juventus will be under pressure to set things right this term.
The Turin club failed to win any of their opening four matches last term, so they know a good start could set the tone for their entire campaign.
Juventus’ preseason form is unlikely to give the fans too much optimism as they claimed just one win in four friendly matches, suffering defeats to Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. To make matters worse, summer signing Paul Pogba is set to miss the opening weeks of the season with an injury.
Despite all their troubles, manager Massimiliano Allegri will still expect his team to start with a win on Monday as they have not lost in their last six opening fixtures.
Sassuolo had a much better preseason than Juventus and suffered just one defeat in five friendly matches. However, they mostly played Italian lower league teams with their final fixture ending in a 3-2 defeat to Serie B side Modena.
It has also been a summer of changes for Sassuolo, who cashed in on one of their prized assets. Top scorer Gianluca Scamacca left for West Ham, breaking up the prolific attacking trio that included Giacomo Raspadori and Domenico Berardi.
Sassuolo are a tricky side that often causes problems for some of the big sides. However, Alessio Dionisi’s men ended the previous campaign with just one win in their final six Serie A matches and it remains to be seen how they cope without their top scorer.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have Juventus as overwhelming favourites with a home win priced at 1/2 with bet365. A victory for Sassuolo is valued at 13/2 by William Hill while SBK is offering odds of 39/10 for a draw.
Head to head
Juventus have a 14-2 advantage with three draws from 19 previous meetings with Sassuolo. The Turin club did the double over their rivals last season with both matches ending 2-1.
Players to watch
Following the departures of Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, much will be dependent on Dusan Vlahovic this season. The Serbian striker has scored seven times in 15 Serie A appearances for Juventus and could be backed to get on the score sheet on Monday at evens with Betfred.
Sassuolo still retains two of their prized assets in Berardi and Raspadori and will be banking on them to deliver the goods on Monday. Paddy Power is offering odds of 7/2 on Berardi to score anytime while bet365 has Raspadori at 11/2 in the same market.
Anything else catch the eye?
Goals are always a big feature in this fixture and Monday’s clash is expected to be no different. Over 2.5 goals is priced at 6/11 with Sport Nation, BetVictor is offering odds of 11/8 for over 3.5 goals while both teams could be backed to score in the first half for the third straight meeting at 3/1 with BoyleSports.
With an open contest expected on Monday, Juventus could be backed to earn a win and over 2.5 goals at evens with BoyleSports.
This Serie A match between Juventus and Sassuolo will be played on Aug 15, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Juventus vs Sassuolo prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
