Preview: Hellas Verona vs. Juventus - prediction, team news, lineups

Juventus take on Hellas Verona on Saturday evening looking to strengthen their hold of first place in the Serie A table.

However, their hosts have put together an encouraging set of results in recent weeks, with Wednesday's goalless draw at Lazio taking the club into ninth position.

Match preview

While Juventus are focused on maintaining their grip of top spot, Cristiano Ronaldo will inevitably take centre stage this weekend as he attempts to continue his remarkable goalscoring run in Italy's top flight.

The 34-year-old is bidding to score for a 10th successive match in Serie A, which would break David Trezeguet's club record and take him to within one of matching Gabriel Batistuta's streak for Fiorentina in the mid-nineties.

The Portugal international's latest strikes came from the penalty spot against Fiorentina, with the 3-0 victory in Turin ensuring that Juventus remain clear of Inter Milan.

The three-point margin has been created despite their setback at Napoli last month, as well as going through a period where they have only kept two clean sheets from their last 10 league outings.

With Inter due to visit their home ground at the start of March, the next target for Maurizio Sarri will be putting together three more wins in order to provide some margin for error heading into that contest.

However, Sarri and his players will certainly not take an 18th win for granted against opponents who have put together a season-defining run either side of the turn of the year.

Three wins and four draws have been recorded from their most recent seven fixtures, a streak which has included stalemates at each of AC Milan and Lazio.

Ivan Juric would have been particularly impressed with his side keeping out Lazio at Stadio Olimpico earlier this week, ensuring that the club continue to possess the fourth-best defensive record in the division.

Eight months on from earning promotion from Serie B, Verona are now just one point away from catapulting themselves into sixth position, but Juric will be keen to focus on causing a surprise against the champions, something which will feel more realistic than it did two months ago.

Hellas Verona Serie A form: WWDWDD

Juventus Serie A form: WWWWLW Juventus form (all competitions): WWWWLW

Team News

Barring any late fitness issues, Sarri is expected to stick with the same team which began the last fixture with Fiorentina.

While Paulo Dybala is pushing for a starting role, Gonzalo Higuain is expected to keep his place in the side, a decision which would see Ronaldo remain out on the left.

Unless Sarri reverts to a diamond formation, Wales international Aaron Ramsey will have to make do with a spot among the replacements.

Verona boss Juric must assess the fitness of his squad with Saturday's game coming just 72 hours after their draw at Lazio.

Fabio Borini will hope to keep his place in the side after recently making the loan switch from AC Milan, but Sofyan Amrabat remains unavailable through suspension.

Hellas Verona possible starting lineup: Silvestri; Rrahmani, Gunter, Kumbulla; Faraoni, Veloso, Pessina, Lazovic; Borini, Zaccagni; Verre

Juventus possible starting lineup: Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Bonucci, Sandro; Bentancur, Pjanic, Rabiot; Costa, Higuain, Ronaldo

We say: Hellas Verona 1-3 Juventus

While Verona will take plenty of belief from their recent results, Juve are fully in their stride now, and there will be no complacency against opponents who have shown that they can cause surprises against the top teams.