Juventus vs Udinese
Italy – Coppa Italia
Date: Thursday, 15 January 2020
Kick-off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: Allianz Stadium (Turin).
Games Rome could have been great considering how it started, but after an early gift squad back to the old ways and are satisfied with sitting back and letting the opposition has the upper hand. It did not come back to bite them, because most of the luck and stingy defend, hopefully lessons will be learned as well. It is justified to allow the opponent to cook for a long time without a fight with the conviction altogether. The game should be removed with relative ease: the fierce mentality is not fully there yet and coaches should continue to encourage the youth in that aspect.
A little hat-tip to go to him for submarines unpopular but pragmatic in the second round, where he took Paulo Dybala and Aaron Ramsey to move Juan Cuadrado to attack, because we finally started playing with more speed and break fast after that and the team cover the entire width of the field better. The problem is what happens in from tenth to seventh minute. Anyway, although the view boring, we will take the win and return to the top position since Inter played a draw, hopefully we will be able to hold onto it this time and it is time to shift the focus to the Coppa Italia, which is a nuisance to your final stage, but you still have to take care of people beginning to get there.
Normally this would be the place where some young children are rarely used given the chance to shine, but as a fact Juventus do not have any, if not for Marko Pjaca, but he is unlikely to play because he was involved in some negotiations to go out on loan in January. Some stalwarts definitely going to get a day off, especially those who never rested like Leonardo Bonucci, Miralem Pjanic and Cristiano Ronaldo. Mattia De Sciglio take a minor injury, which makes it difficult to give a day off for Alex Sandro.
The most intrigue lies in the composition of the midfield, as it has been reported that Maurizio Sarri tested Emre Can as a pivot and Federico Bernardeschi as a box-to-box during a break in practice and this could be the right match for the experiment. Rodrigo Bentancur is the key to play given his suspension Serie A, the coach may give some continuity to someone who had to increase their fitness level, such as Adrian Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey. Bernardeschi be required up front because it is not clear whether Douglas Costa can go the distance. Gonzalo Higuain will most likely become the spearhead of the attack and Gianluigi Buffon will be between the sticks.
demiral Merih injury is a big bummer, especially for him, because he was almost perfect recently. Daniele Rugani must have a voodoo doll of his teammates, because every time it would make sense for him to go, someone got sick and he continued to be quite valuable. Matthijs De Ligt looked good against Roma and for the moment does not look like the management will bring someone else in the transfer market as expected Giorgio Chiellini back pretty soon, re-establish the standard package of four people in the back.
lineup possibilities
4-3-1-2: Buffon; Danilo De Ligt, Rugani, Sandro; Can, Bentacur, Rabiot; Bernardeschi, Higuain, Costa.
Udinese
Udinese really go on a run because we soundly beat them in mid-December, following a three-game win against Cagliari, Lecce and Sassuolo and drag themselves out of the relegation zone. They do not make significant changes to their approach, if not for Seko Fofana replacing Mato Jajalo and Rolando Mandragora move to pivot in midfield for a more dynamic look. Fofana and return to form Rodrigo De Paul, who has hit the net in three contests, has been the primary force behind the recent success. However, it is far from certain they will show here because they have some players who have not got a lot of minutes so far and can be given early on Wednesday, as well as to keep the primary elements fresh for the weekend.
The list includes backup goalkeeper Nicolas, Nicholas Opoku, which can be used both as a central defender or as a very defensive-backs, Hidde Ter Avest on the flanks, and Antonin Walace Barak in the belt of the lineup and Luke Teodorczyk in advance. Some of them started in the previous Coppa Italia fixture against Bologna in December. Rodrigo Becao and Sebastian De Maio usually alternate, but can begin together to keep William Troost-Ekong on the bench. Jajalo can return XI. Ignacio Pussetto instead sold to Watford, so there is one less human to worry about.
No matter the formation, their formula is quite clear, as evidenced by their strong 3-5-2. They will lose a lot of pizazz if not de Paul or Fofana there, because they can switch the field position in a hurry and did not reserve at the same level, even though Barak used to be pretty good before a major back injury. Even if the lack of people, it will be a game in which loose defending will not be forgiven for their prowess in the counter-attack and it can take some work to solve their strongholds.
lineup possibilities
3-5-2: Nicolas; Becao, De Maio, Opoku; Ter Avest, Walace, Jajalo, Barak, Larsen; Teodorzcyk, Nestorovski.
Key Statistics
The two sides have met as many as 96 times with Juventus won 63 games compared to 12. However, the Old Lady have the upper hand Udinese in recent times, winning the last five games comfortably.
Udinese Rodrigo De Paul and Stefano Okaka has scored four goals each and are the highest scorers this season for men Luca Gotti.
Ignacio Pussetto, who scored the only goal in the 1-3 defeat Udinese to Juventus in Serie A now has joined English Premier League club, Watford.
Both sides had disappointing campaign last season's Coppa Italia by Udinese lost in the third round against Benevento, while Juventus lost 0-3 against Atalanta in the quarter-finals.
Prediction
Juventus 3-1 Udinese
The Old Lady was in scintillating touch of late and will look to continue their form cup tie against Udinese. Maurizio Sarri has a lot of quality in the ranks and it will be very difficult for Luca Gotti to trigger a big surprise.
However, Udinese also played a good brand of attacking football and players like De Paul and Okaka has been among the goals and they will look to take the attack to Juve. But we at Hard Tackle feel that Juventus can walk out with a 3-1 win over Udinese and progress to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.
