Three wins in a week have rejuvenated defending champions Juventus going into the second half of the Serie A season, as they prepare to meet Sampdoria at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday evening.
Claudio Ranieri's home team, meanwhile, await the champions' arrival having put together rare back-to-back victories of their own to move into the top half of the table.
Match preview
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Rebounding immediately from their Derby d'Italia defeat to Inter, Supercoppa Italiana success against Napoli gave under-pressure Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo his first silverware since taking charge.
His team then followed that up with a league win over Bologna - goals coming from midfielders Arthur and Weston McKennie - to narrow the gap on the league-leading Milan clubs in Serie A.
On Wednesday, Pirlo's much-changed XI secured progress to a tantalising Coppa Italia semi-final against Inter - the first leg of which is scheduled for next week - by sweeping aside Serie B SPAL 4-0 at the Allianz Stadium.
Taking the opportunity to rest experienced squad members Cristiano Ronaldo, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci among others, Juve were in control throughout against Pasquale Marino's men.
Away from Turin, however, the Bianconeri's form has wavered so far - registering just four wins and as many draws on the road compared to six successes at home.
Adding a win to that record on Saturday would allow Juventus to at least temporarily take third place with a game in hand on most other sides in a seemingly still open Scudetto race.
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Successive wins against strugglers Parma and Udinese have helped Sampdoria into 10th place in the Serie A standings at the halfway stage, with the wildly inconsistent Blucerchiati remaining strangers to the draw - with eight wins and nine losses coming in a refreshingly entertaining first phase of the campaign.
Samp have in fact won their last two matches without conceding a goal, with the last time they managed that seemingly modest feat coming back in September 2018 - albeit their most recent opponents were considerably less fearsome than this week's.
Three home wins in their last five for Claudio Ranieri's men also included bringing Inter's long winning streak to an end earlier this month and should provide them with a further measure of confidence ahead of Juve's visit.
After his first-half goal at the Tardini, Senegalese striker Keita Balde has now scored 14 goals in his last 16 Serie A starts and since his return to full fitness, Ranieri has had a plethora of attacking options from which to choose - including evergreen Azzurri stars Antonio Candreva and Fabio Quagliarella, plus new signing Ernesto Torregrossa.
Coming face-to-face with the Old Lady's wily defensive masters at Marassi should prove a firm test of Samp's new-found offensive credentials and promises to provide an entertaining match-up.
Sampdoria Serie A form: LLWLWW
Juventus Serie A form: LWWWLW
Juventus form (all competitions): WWLWWW
Team News
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Top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo will return to the Juventus starting side after benefiting from a rare rest in midweek, along with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and defensive mainstay Giorgio Chiellini. Both Juan Cuadrado and Federico Chiesa are also expected to feature on the flanks in Pirlo's flexible 4-4-2.
Though Rodrigo Bentancur is a minor doubt due to a foot injury, only suspended Dejan Kulusevski and injured Paulo Dybala are definitely unavailable for the Bianconeri, so Alvaro Morata will continue in attack.
Sampdoria are also in collective good health ahead of the game and with only long-term absentee Manolo Gabbiadini still unavailable, Claudio Ranieri could opt to retain Keita Balde alongside Fabio Quagliarella in attack.
It is also expected that Jakub Jankto will return to the left wing in order to counter Cuadrado's characteristic surges, replacing the more attack-minded Gaston Ramirez.
Despite showing well of late, Adrien Silva may drop out of midfield, as reliable campaigner Albin Ekdal is set to reprise his successful engine room partnership with Morten Thorsby.
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Ekdal, Thorsby, Jankto; Keita, Quagliarella
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Danilo, De Ligt, Bonucci, Cuadrado; McKennie, Bentancur, Rabiot, Chiesa; Morata, Ronaldo
We say: Sampdoria 1-1 Juventus
Surely Serie A's most hard-to-predict side, Sampdoria have rarely drawn this term but would gratefully receive a point against Juventus this weekend.
On the other hand, Juve have tied too many league games so far and may again be held by an improving and increasingly confident outfit - one featuring several men with sufficient experience to frustrate the champions.
Top betting 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 62.6%. A draw had a probability of 19% and a win for Sampdoria had a probability of 18.41%.
The most likely scoreline for a Juventus win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.55%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (7.98%) and 1-3 (7.41%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.21%), while for a Sampdoria win it was 2-1 (4.92%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Juventus would win this match.
