In a clash of the black and whites, Juventus travel to Udine  on short rest after their midweek Coppa Italia clash against Napoli but with a chance to extend their lead at the top of Serie A to 10 points after Roma's home defeat to the Partenopei on Saturday.

 Max Allegri has now led the Old Lady to ten consecutive victories in all competitions and will demand continued focus from his players in every single match. Former Juve coach Luigi Del Neri faces his former team in a moment of mini crisis; Udinese only managed to earn one point in the month of February and will need total concentration to compete with the league leaders this afternoon.

 

Max Allegri and his players have undergone an internal revolution since their formation change in early January. Not only have they been able to achieve results, but they also are managing to dominate the play. Juve have squad depth and quality to challenge on all fronts. This weekend, Allegri will likely elect again to rotate some players who are less fatigued for those with heavy minutes. In defence Mehdi Benatia is expected to make his second start since his return from the African Cup of Nations.

Miralem Pjanic will likely be rested, leaving the midfield roles to Marchisio and Khedira. The Bianconeri front four will return to the dynamic combination that has had continued success since early January. Dybala will line up centrally with Cuadrado and Mandzukic on either side. Challenging for the capocannoniere, Higuain will occupy his normal centre forward role, as he looks to add to his season tally of 19 goals.

 

Udinese meanwhile have struggled to find points of late. They have only managed two wins in their last ten games and now sit in mid-table. Unfortunately for the Friuli side, their new stadium has not coincided with the success that the owners had hoped for and today's fixture against Scudetto holders Juventus offers yet another possible moment of difficulty.

Del Neri is expected to field a defensive 4-5-1 to crowd the midfield and disrupt Juve's rhythm of play. In the midfield, the trio of Hallfredsson, Badu, and Fofana will have the responsibility to contain Dybala in attack and limit the range of Marchisio and Khedira. The flanks will be taken up by De Paul and Jankto, who will also be required to help out in defence. Colombian striker Duvan Zapata will need to be active up front, as Udinese rely on him to hold the ball up just as much as they need him to finish off chances. Off the bench, Cyril Thereau is the home side’s best scoring threat. Perhaps the most intriguing matchup will be between Silvan Widmer and Mario Mandzukic, both great athletes with excellent work rates.

 

Coming off a controversial win over Napoli midweek, Juventus supporters will expect to be celebrating yet again this weekend. Allegri and his players will want to quickly move past the media questions regarding the questionable penalties in their Coppa Italia victory and focus on the match at hand. The Dacia Arena can be a tricky venue, and Luigi Del Neri undoubtedly will be wanting to put together a quality performance against his former employers. Juve fans on the other hand, will be more than happy coming away with all three points against the coach that sadly led them to seventh place. 

 

Juventus (4-2-3-1) Buffon; D. Alves, Barzagli, Benatia, Alex Sandro; Marchisio, Khedira; Cuadrado, Dybala, Mandzukic; Higuain
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Udinese (4-5-1) Karnezis; Widmer, Danilo, Felipe, Samir; De Paul, Badu, Hallfredsson, Fofana, Jankto; D. Zapata
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David Baleno