Juventus return to European action on Wednesday night when they host Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League group stages.
The Old Lady are still looking for their first points of the group stage campaign having lost each of their opening two fixtures, but got back to winning ways over the weekend with a convincing 3-0 victory over Bologna in Serie A.
Maccabi sit bottom of Group H on goal difference having also lost their opening two games, meaning the points up for grabs on Wednesday are absolutely vital if someone can come away with all three.
Here’s all you need to know about the game.
Massimiliano Allegri welcomed back a number of familiar faces at the weekend in Juve’s victory over Bologna, including Wojciech Szczesny, Alex Sandro, Adrien Rabiot and Manuel Locatelli, giving them a much-needed boost.
Paul Pogba and Federico Chiesa remain unavailable as they recover from long-term injury issues, but Allegri otherwise has a fully fit squad to pick from.
Juventus Starting XI (4-4-2): Szczesny; Danilo, Bremer, Bonucci, Sandro; McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Di Maria, Vlahovic.
Bench: Perin, De Sciglio, Gatti, Cuadrado, Paredes, Miretti, Milik.
The visitors are expected to be without Suf Podgoreanu due to injury once again, while Mahmoud Jaber may also be missing.
Other than those absentees, Maccabi Haifa are expected to bring a fully fit squad to Turin and make use of a starting XI that did the job at the weekend against Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
Dean David scored a brace late on in the contest, giving him a handy boost of confidence ahead of a big away trip.
Maccabi Haifa Starting XI (5-3-2): Cohen; Sundgren, Goldberg, Batubinsika; Haziza, Fani, Lavi, Chery, Cornud; Atzili, David.
Bench: Mohamed, Tchibota, Menahem, Rukavytsya, Arad, Pierrot, Seck.
It’s been an absolute nightmare start to the European campaign for Juventus, who have also stuttered domestically and desperately need to find some consistent form. However, a 3-0 victory and a clean sheet heading into this one should do them the world of good.
Maccabi will be no pushovers and will smell blood against a very fragile Juve outfit, but they’ll need a lot more than that to get anything from the contest. Quality and the need for three points will get them over the line.
Prediction: Juventus 2-0 Maccabi Haifa
Credit: 90min.com
