Following a week of intense speculation about the future of departing striker Cristiano Ronaldo, on Saturday evening Juventus welcome Serie B champions Empoli to Turin under severe pressure to win.
As the Bianconeri dropped two points at Udinese last week, they will be glad to have some extra midfield options available to start this time out after absences enforced by injury and suspension.
Only a substitute at the Dacia Arena, Ronaldo made a belated impact on the game after his arrival, but in his absence, Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado could feature in support of Alvaro Morata up front. However, Euro 2020 star Federico Chiesa also made a cameo appearance in Udine and is a strong contender for a place in Max Allegri's first XI.
The returning Juve coach will be relying on another European champion, Manuel Locatelli, to make an impact in midfield on his home debut for the club. Set to take a role in the engine room as part of a 4-3-3 formation, Locatelli could be joined by Adrien Rabiot, who is now available after injury, while Weston McKennie is back from suspension.
However, two other midfield options are sidelined, as Arthur remains out injured and Aaron Ramsey picked up another muscular problem last week.
In addition, exciting new recruit Kaio Jorge - named on the bench last week without getting on the pitch - will be unavailable until after the international break after picking up an injury in training.
At the back, meanwhile, Wojciech Szczesny will keep his place despite a horror start to the new campaign - giving away a penalty and gifting Udinese a goal - and is the last line of defence behind a probable centre-back pairing of Matthijs de Ligt and Leonardo Bonucci, with veteran Giorgio Chiellini remaining as back-up on the bench.
Juventus possible starting lineup: Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Bonucci, Sandro; Bentancur, Locatelli, Bernardeschi; Chiesa, Morata, Dybala
Jonathan O'Shea
