Juventus: 5 key players to watch against Verona on Matchday 24
Juventus will travel to the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on Saturday night to take on Hellas Verona in Serie A following a 3-0 trouncing of Crotone this past Monday. But Verona will be a much more difficult team to defeat than Crotone, who are last in the league. Not only did Verona take points off Juve earlier this season, but they are also ninth in the league.
Here are five key players to watch on Serie A’s Matchday 24, with the selections based on Sky Sport Italia’s probable formations.
Juventus CB Matthijs de Ligt
The injuries are mounting for Juventus, as Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini remain out for the Bianconeri. And after picking up a fifth yellow card against Crotone, the surprise star of the season, Danilo, will also be unavailable for Juve.
So we have a big game ahead for de Ligt, who must cope with the speed of Kevin Lasagna up top and also provide the necessary stability on the ball when playing out of the back. De Ligt is a leader for Juventus now, and Juventini won’t doubt his ability to come through in this one.
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Verona AM Mattia Zaccagni
Mattia Zaccagni has been Verona’s star man this season, leading the way with 10 goal contributions split evenly between goals and assists. He’s expected to start right behind Lasagna and feed the former Udinese man.
The 25-year-old is going to do whatever he can to cause Juve problems on the ball and create havoc in the final third. Verona will be going for the upset on Saturday night, and Zaccagni can play a key role in that.
Juventus FW Dejan Kulusevski
Alvaro Morata’s illness means that Dejan Kulusevski will start for a consecutive game up top next to Cristiano Ronaldo. Paulo Dybala remains injured, and Juve don’t really have any better options than the young Swede.
Kulusevski needs to step up. No, playing up top is not ideal for the 20-year-old, but it is honestly unacceptable for a Juventus forward to go anonymous under any circumstance. Verona have performed well defensively this season with less than 30 goals allowed, so a subpar display from Kulu would really hurt the Bianconeri’s chances.
Verona CB Koray Günter
Koray Günter is one of the most underrated defenders in Serie A, and he’s been excellent at the heart of their defense this season. Günter has not even made a tackle per game, because he hasn’t needed to. The man has been sublime at reading the game with a whopping 2.7 interceptions per match. Per WhoScored.com, that is good for fifth in Serie A.
He will have a tough matchup against Cristiano Ronaldo, but who’s to say this isn’t a tough matchup for Ronaldo, too? Furthermore, Günter is Verona’s leader in passes per game.
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Juventus LM Federico Bernardeschi
Verona have a very strong duo of wide men in Marco Faraoni and Federico Dimarco, with the former set to match up against Federico Bernardeschi, who has become very important to the Bianconeri due to injuries.
Bernardeschi is expected to start on the left-hand side, and there really is no better option for Andrea Pirlo at this point with Federico Chiesa favoring the right. Although Bernardeschi has been poor again this season, if he can just get his confidence back, he can provide a real boost to the Black and Whites. Maybe he’ll be a solid contributor on Matchday 24.