Juventus welcome Udinese to the Allianz Stadium for an Italian Serie A clash on Sunday. With the race for a top-four finish tightening as the season winds down, the Turin club can afford no slip-ups and should be too strong for the visitors.
Juventus come into this clash off the back of a 1-1 league draw at Lazio last time out in Serie A. They are now unbeaten in six of their last seven league matches and remain fourth in the table, although there are several teams breathing down their neck.
Igor Tudor's men are a tough nut to crack at the Allianz Stadium and have won seven of their last eight Serie A home matches. Defensive solidity has been key in that run and the Turin club have kept five clean sheets in that run.
Udinese arrive in Turin low on confidence after a 2-1 home defeat to already-relegated Monza in their previous fixture. That result extends their recent poor run as they are now winless in eight of their last nine matches, suffering six defeats in that run.
Kosta Runjaic’s men claimed a 2-1 victory at Cagliari in their previous away fixture. That was a vital result that ended a three-match losing run on their travels, failing to score in two of those fixtures.
How the bookies view it: Juventus overwhelming favourites
Juventus have been backed as overwhelming favourites among the bookies with BoyleSports offering odds of 1/3 for a home win. An unlikely victory for Udinese is priced at 7/1 while a draw has been set at 7/2 on BoyleSports.
Head to head: Dominant Juventus
Juventus have a 43-10 advantage with nine draws from 62 previous matches against Udinese. The Turin club have also won five of the last six matches and claimed a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture.
Players to watch: Reliable Kolo Muani
Randal Kolo Muani has netted nine goals in all competitions for Juventus since his January arrival and will be the one to watch on Sunday. The striker has been on target in two of the last three matches and is priced at 5/4 by BoyleSports to find the net once again.
Juventus have had shutouts in five of the last eight Serie A matches and will be targeting a repeat on Sunday. Renato Veiga has been a mainstay at the back and can lead the hosts to another clean sheet at 3/4 with BoyleSports.
Probable line-ups
Juventus will be without Lloyd Kelly, Andrea Cambiaso and Tuen Koopmeiners due to injuries while Kephran Thuram, Pierre Kalulu and Nicolo Savona are suspended. However, Veiga, Manuel Locatelli and Kolo Muani are expected to start.
Isaak Toure and Florian Thauvin are still out injured for Udinese while Lorenzo Lucca and Arthur Atta are suspended. However, Gianluca Caprari, Omari Forson and Andrea Carboni are expected to retain their spots in the line-up.
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Gatti, Veiga, Rouhi, Costa, Mc Kennie, Locatelli, Luiz, Weah, Kolo Muani, Gonzalez
Udinese: Okoye, Pereira, Brorsson, Carboni, Birindelli, Castrovilli, Bianco, Akpro, Kyriakopoulos, Caprari, Forson
Anything else catch the eye?
Juventus have won to nil in five of the last six matches against Udinese and a repeat can be considered at evens with BoyleSports. The hosts have also won the first half in three of their last four home matches and a similar outcome is valued at 20/23 with BoyleSports.
The Turin club have won by at least two goals in two of the last three matches against Udinese and can be backed in the -1 handicap market at 21/20 with BoyleSports.
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