Juventus will be looking for their fourth straight win in all competitions when they welcome Parma to Turin for their latest Serie A fixture on Sunday night.
The Old Lady reclaimed first spot in the table from Inter Milan last weekend, while Parma currently occupy seventh position with 28 points to show from their 19 matches during the 2019-20 campaign.
Match preview
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It would be fair to say that Juve have not always been at their best this season, but the Old Lady returned to the top of Serie A last weekend courtesy of an impressive 2-1 victory at Roma.
Inter Milan's 1-1 draw with Atalanta BC on Saturday had opened the door for Maurizio Sarri's side to claim first position, and a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo ultimately proved to be the winning goal.
Juve have now won 15, drawn three and lost one of their 19 league matches this term to sit two points clear at the summit. As well as winning their last four in the league, the Old Lady recorded a 4-0 victory over Udinese in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday night.
It is an important period of the season for the Italian champions as they will follow this weekend's match with a Coppa Italia clash against Roma on Wednesday night before travelling to Napoli in Serie A on January 26.
The knockout round of the Champions League will also start next month, and Sarri will be confident of leading his team through their two-legged affair with French giants Lyon.
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Parma, meanwhile, suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to Roma in the Coppa Italia on Thursday night but did record a 2-0 home victory over Lecce in Serie A last weekend.
A record of eight wins, four draws and seven defeats from 19 matches has left them in seventh spot in the table, just one point off sixth-placed Cagliari but seven off Roma in fifth position.
Declared bankrupt in 2015 before being re-founded in Serie D, the Yellow and Blues managed three straight promotions to return to Serie A for the 2018-19 season, where they finished 14th to secure another campaign of top-flight football as the rebuild continues.
As a result, the first half of this campaign must be considered a success following a turbulent few years, but they have not beaten Juve away from home in the league since January 2011.
That said, Roberto D'Aversa's side picked up a point in a 3-3 draw in Turin last season, while the Old Lady only just triumphed in the reverse match back in August courtesy of a Giorgio Chiellini goal.
Juventus Serie A form: DLWWWW
Juventus form (all competitions): WWLWWW
Parma Serie A form: LWWDLW
Parma form (all competitions): WWDLWL
Team News
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Juve will again be without the services of Chiellini, Sami Khedira and Mattia De Sciglio through injury, while Merih Demiral will miss the rest of the season following knee surgery.
Midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is also still suspended, but the likes of Juan Cuadrado, Aaron Ramsey, Blaise Matuidi and Miralem Pjanic should return having been named on the bench during the week.
Ramsey is likely to support Gonzalo Higuain and Ronaldo in the final third of the field, while Leonardo Bonucci should also return to the heart of the defence at the expense of Daniele Rugani.
As for Parma, on-loan Inter Milan forward Yann Karamoh remains on the treatment table, but Alberto Grassi should shake off a back problem to start against the champions.
Dejan Kulusevski has recently agreed a deal to join Juve but remains on loan with Parma, where he has starred during the 2019-20 campaign.
The 19-year-old is unlikely to be involved against his now parent club this weekend, though, meaning that there could be a start in the final third for former Arsenal attacker Gervinho.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt, Sandro; Matuidi, Pjanic, Rabiot; Ramsey; Ronaldo, Higuain
Parma possible starting lineup:
Sepe; Darmian, Iacoponi, Alves, Gagliolo; Kucka, Hernani, Grassi; Gervinho, Inglese, Kurtic
We say: Juventus 2-0 Parma
Parma have shown plenty of positive signs during the 2019-20 campaign, but it is very difficult to back against Juve in this game. We fancy Sarri's side to collect all three points with a fairly routine win.
Matt Law
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 win with a probability of 73.45%. A draw had a probability of 14.4% and a win for had a probability of 12.19%.
The most likely scoreline for a win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-1 (8.12%) and 2-0 (6.91%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (5.53%), while for a win it was 1-2 (3.28%).
