Juventus will be looking to make it seven straight wins in all competitions when they welcome Sassuolo to the Juventus Stadium on Sunday.
Maurizio Sarri's side are currently top of Serie A with 35 points, while Sassuolo occupy 14th position with 13 points to show from as many matches this season.
Match preview
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Juve could be forgiven for thinking that a record of 11 wins and two draws from their 13 Serie A matches this season would leave them fairly clear at the top of the table.
However, while the Italian champions are at the summit, Inter Milan are just a point behind in second, meaning that the Turin giants have no wiggle room as they attempt to hold off the threat of Antonio Conte's side.
Juve have had to grind out a series of victories this season, and Sarri's team impressively won 3-1 at Atalanta BC last weekend without the services of the injured Cristiano Ronaldo. Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala were instead paired as the front two, and both players found the back of the net in the two-goal success.
Ronaldo returned for Tuesday's Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid, and the Italian side put another win on the board courtesy of a brilliant free kick from Dybala.
The champions will now switch their attention back to league matters and will fancy their chances of overcoming a team who have lost each of the last seven Serie A fixtures between the two sides.
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Four wins, one draw and seven defeats - that is how Sassuolo have performed in Serie A this season. A total of 13 points has left them in 14th position in the table, just three points clear of the relegation zone.
The omens are not exactly terrific for the visitors heading into this match considering that they have lost their last seven Serie A meetings with Juve, although a 1-0 home victory was recorded in October 2015.
Roberto De Zerbi's side only lost one of their four league matches between October 25 and November 8, overcoming Hellas Verona and Bologna in the process to move up the table.
The Black and Greens suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Lazio last weekend, though, and only two teams in Italy's top flight - Brescia and SPAL - have lost more times in Serie A during the 2019-20 campaign.
It is not as if they have a kind fixture list in the weeks ahead either with clashes against Cagliari and AC Milan to follow this weekend's game against the finest side that Italy have to offer.
Juventus form: WLWWWW
Sassuolo form: LWLDWL
Team News
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Juve will again be without the services of key central defender Giorgio Chiellini due to a long-term knee injury, while Douglas Costa is also unavailable for selection this weekend.
Alex Sandro could return from injury to line up at left-back, though, and Adrien Rabiot is also being tipped to recover in time for Sunday's Serie A contest.
Federico Bernardeschi could return to the XI in place of Aaron Ramsey, while Higuain, Juan Cuadrado and Sami Khedira could also be recalled having been named on the bench against Atletico.
Ronaldo, who has struggled with a troublesome knee issue in recent weeks, is also available for the champions after coming through the European tie unscathed.
As for Sassuolo, a lengthy injury list includes the likes of Rogerio, Vlad Chiriches, Gianluca Pegolo, Domenico Berardi, Gian Marco Ferrari and Gregoire Defrel.
As a result, De Zerbi does not have many options for change, meaning that the XI will have a similar look to the one that started against Lazio last time out.
Francesco Caputo was on the scoresheet against Simone Inzaghi's side and should again lead the line with support from Manuel Locatelli in a slightly withdrawn position.
Juventus possible starting lineup: Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt, Sandro; Khedira, Pjanic, Matuidi; Bernardeschi; Higuain, Ronaldo
Sassuolo possible starting lineup: Consigli; Toljan, Romagna, Marlon, Kyriakopoulos; Duncan, Magnanelli; Djuricic, Locatelli, Boga; Caputo
We say: Juventus 2-0 Sassuolo
Sassuolo's lengthy injury list means that it is very, very difficult to predict an upset in Turin this weekend. Juve are on an impressive winning run at the moment and we fully expect that to continue on home soil.
Matt Law
