Chievo vs Juventus: Preview and Prediction

Chievo vs Juventus
2016/17 Italian Serie A.
Date: Sunday, 06 November 2016
Kick-Off: 14:00 UK,
Venue: Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi (Verona).

Once viewed as among the league’s surprise packages, things have gone really wrong for Chievo, and the Flying Donkeys will definitely not be welcoming the visit of reigning champs Juventus this Sunday.

Rolando Maran’s men made a good start to this term, but have now failed to win their past four games. In fact, they will be coming into this match having lost 2-0 to Crotone. That result, of course was great for the Serie A debutants, who now finally have their first ever top flight victory. Not so much, of course, for the Flying Donkeys. Since losing 3-1 to AC Milan last month, Chievo have only scored once in their past three games, during a one-all draw with Bologna.

That means they actually were shut out by Empoli and Crotone. Two sides who are currently among the relegation candidates. Not exactly promising reading for a team who were hoping to be one of the surprise candidates for a European spot at the end of this term. Meanwhile, Juventus arrive in Verona having had to settle for a point in their Champions League tie with Lyon. Massimiliano Allegri’s men now will have to wait until matchday five to determine their spot in the round of 16, but until then, they have a nice four-point gap over the chasing pack in Serie A.

Gonzalo Higuain appears to have regained his confidence in front of goal after a mini-drought. The Argentinian netted the game winner against his former club Napoli in last weekend’s big game, and opened the scoring for Juventus against Lyon. However, he blew a golden chance to put the Bianconeri 2-0 up after blazing over and will hope to make amends this weekend.

The visitors have lost just twice this season. Both, interestingly, were to the two fallen Milan giants: Inter and AC Milan. And both results were by a one-goal margin. Juventus, however, are by far the strongest side in the division and it will take nothing short of a miracle for a floundering Chievo to trouble them much this weekend.

Chievo vs Juventus: Head-to-head statistics

• Chievo have won three, drawn nine, and lost eight out of their last 20 home games against teams ranked higher than them in the table.
• Juventus have won 16, drawn three, and lost just one out of their last 20 away games ranked below them in the table.
• The Flying Donkeys have not beaten La Vecchia Signora since January 17, 2010.
• Since then they’ve lost seven times and drawn five.
• Juventus have won seven out of their last eight meetings with Chievo across all competitions.
• The Bianconeri have won 34 out of their last 38 Serie A games.
• Chievo have just lost one out of their last 13 home games.

Chievo vs Juventus: Prediction

Despite their struggles, Chievo are traditionally strong at home. So far, the only team to have beaten them in their last 13 matches was AC Milan, who blitzed them 3-1. However, being the team to lose to Crotone is never an easy thing to rebound from. It was bound to happen to someone, but Chievo obviously did not want it to be them.

Meanwhile, Juventus are missing some key players for this game, namely Giorgio Chiellini, Paulo Dybala, and potentially Leonardo Bonucci and Miralem Pjanic. The absence of Dybala has forced Allegri to tinker with his formation up top. Higuain and Mario Mandzukic are very similar strikers, so the Italian tactician, who tried a 4-3-1-2 with limited success, could switch to a 4-3-3.

That would see Higuain flanked by Mandzukic and Juan Cuadrado, and this just may be the game that will be perfect to try out new things. Only the Milan clubs have managed to score against Juve on the road, who are expected to pick up a pretty straightforward win here.