Following the latest hammer blow to their ambitions last weekend, Juventus look to bounce back and consolidate their top four spot with a win at Cagliari on Saturday.
The Bianconeri travel to Sardinia after Derby d'Italia defeat to Inter effectively ended their Scudetto hopes for another year, while their hosts have lost four successive Serie A matches to slip into acute danger near the foot of the standings.
Match preview
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Having crashed out of the Champions League in ignominious fashion last month, Juventus may have returned from the international break with a win over rock-bottom Salernitana, but it was last Sunday's clash with old foes Inter that would test their mettle - with victory all but essential if they were to stay in the title race.
Despite their futile attempts at equalising during the second half, Juve were ultimately undone by Hakan Calhanoglu's re-taken penalty during first half stoppage time, and a 1-0 defeat now leaves them four points adrift of the reigning champions and a further four behind leaders Milan.
Their second successive loss in the Derby d'Italia, after January's Supercoppa Italiana also went the way of the Nerazzurri, sees Max Allegri's men with only the Coppa Italia and securing a return to the Champions League to play for, but at least the latter objective remains on course due to their consistency over the past few months.
Not only did last week's defeat finally end a 16-match unbeaten streak in Serie A, but since the beginning of November, Juventus are one of just two teams - the other being Inter - unbeaten away from home in the Italian top flight.
Winning six games and drawing three on the road, the Bianconeri have averaged two goals per game during that time, so will be confident of maintaining their five-point buffer to Roma in fifth when they tackle their favourite prey on Saturday.
Juve have won 10 of their last 11 Serie A meetings with Cagliari - including December's reverse fixture in Turin - and have kept eight clean sheets in the process.
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Not only have their latest visitors been generally dominant in recent clashes between the two very different clubs, but Cagliari have also lost nine of their last 10 league games at home to the Old Lady - conceding at least three goals on five of those occasions.
They also enter the weekend amid a worrying downturn in fortunes, as Walter Mazzarri's men have lost each of their last four outings; conceding 11 goals. That equals the club's worst run since the start of last year, with a previous five-match unbeaten run that clawed them out of the bottom three fading fast in the memory.
Joao Pedro's opener in the Rossoblu's chastening 5-1 defeat to Udinese last weekend has been their only goal during that fruitless spell, and the manner in which his side subsequently folded at the Dacia Arena will be of serious concern to both the club captain and Mazzarri.
Still hovering precariously above the drop zone - leading 18th-placed Venezia by three points, but having played a game more - Cagliari are definitely not out of the woods yet and have a long way to go before retaining their top-flight status.
Upcoming clashes with Genoa and Venezia - the latter a potential demotion decider on the final day - are more likely to define their destiny than events on Saturday evening, though, when they start as long-shot outsiders.
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Team News
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Not for the first time in recent months, Max Allegri will be forced to rejig his starting side, as in the wake of the defeat to Inter, both Mattia De Sciglio and Alvaro Morata must serve suspensions - the former being sent off deep into injury time.
In midfield, Manuel Locatelli will be absent too, and is set to be out until at least next month due to injury, so Denis Zakaria is expected to regain his place in the Juventus engine room. Weston McKennie, Kaio Jorge and Federico Chiesa are all sidelined for the rest of the season.
Up front, January signing Dusan Vlahovic will start, having scored four times in his last five games against Cagliari - including his first Serie A strike from a direct free kick for Fiorentina earlier this term and, in 2019, his first ever league goals in Italy.
Meanwhile, Cagliari's absence list stubbornly refuses to shorten, as Alberto Grassi sits out Juve's visit due to his late dismissal against Udinese. He joins fellow midfielders Nahitan Nandez, Kevin Strootman and Daniele Baselli on the treatment table, though the latter's ankle sprain may heal in time to feature if required.
Luca Ceppitelli could be unavailable to Walter Mazzarri as well, while either Leonardo Pavoletti or Gaston Pereiro should accompany the hosts' talismanic skipper up front.
Though he has scored only once before against Saturday's opponents - in Turin, back in November 2018 - Joao Pedro has 11 goals and four assists so far this season for his struggling side.
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Cragno; Walukiewicz, Lovato, Altare; Bellanova, Rog, Deiola, Marin, Dalbert; Pereiro; Pedro
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Danilo, De Ligt, Bonucci, Pellegrini; Cuadrado, Zakaria, Arthur, Rabiot; Dybala, Vlahovic
We say: Cagliari 0-2 Juventus
The combination of excellent away form and historical subordination of their opponents sees Juve start as favourites to prevail, and as they may feel there is a point to prove after last week, motivation will not be in short supply either.
Shipping five goals in Udine demonstrates how brittle Cagliari can be defensively, so the visitors can dominate midfield and leave the rest to Vlahovic and company up front.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Juventus win with a probability of 64.52%. A draw had a probability of 19.4% and a win for Cagliari had a probability of 16.04%.
The most likely scoreline for a Juventus win was 0-2 with a probability of 9.91%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.87%) and 0-1 (9.04%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.01%), while for a Cagliari win it was 2-1 (4.49%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 9.9% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Juventus would win this match.
