Hoping to keep themselves in the title race with a win, Scudetto dark horses Juventus take on struggling Sampdoria at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday.
The Bianconeri edged out Spezia last weekend to extend their unbeaten run to a 14th Serie A match and are in striking distance of top spot with 10 games left to play. Samp, meanwhile, merely aim to maintain their top-flight status.
Match preview
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Now seeking a 15th straight league game without defeat - having won nine times during that period - Juventus have clearly rediscovered an ability to grind out results of late, following months of frustrating inconsistency.
Indeed, in 2022, the Turin giants have gained the most points of any club in Serie A and are one of only five teams across the top five European leagues still unbeaten during this calendar year.
As they travel to Liguria on Saturday - a week after beating Sampdoria's near neighbours Spezia at home - Juve last suffered an away defeat at the end of October, against Hellas Verona.
Since then, they have remained unbeaten in eight away league games, and the last time they went nine without loss was during Max Allegri's first spell at the club, when they ultimately racked up a staggering 26 successive away games undefeated.
Still in with a chance of claiming silverware this term - with at least a defence of the Coppa Italia still on the cards - the Bianconeri could feasibly sneak past both Milan clubs and Napoli to claim an unlikely title triumph, but to do so, surely their relentless run will have to stretch to the end of the campaign.
Despite a lacklustre showing against Spezia, where Alvaro Morata's first-half strike helped Juve's injury-stricken side to three precious points, they will be heavily fancied to pick up another win this weekend.
As they have scored at least twice in each of their last six games against Sampdoria in all competitions (with 16 goals in total), the visitors' new-look strikeforce will certainly fancy their chances of topping up their tallies in Genoa.
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Having already been beaten twice in Turin by Saturday's this term - with a 3-2 league defeat being followed January's Coppa Italia exit at the hands of Juventus - it is fair to assume that Sampdoria would rather see any other team coach arrive at Marassi this week than the Bianconeri's.
Marco Giampaolo may have helped Samp to a couple of victories since returning as head coach at the start of the year, but they approach Saturday evening having been chastened by successive defeats - first 4-0 to Atalanta, then 2-1 against fellow strugglers Udinese last time out.
Nonetheless, the Blucerchiati have won without conceding a goal in their last two home fixtures - against Sassuolo (4-0) and Empoli (2-0) - so home advantage may at least assuage fears of a mauling by Italy's most in-form side.
In fact, with a surprise success, Samp could even win a third Serie A home game in a row for the first time since January 2019 - meanwhile reducing their risk of being drawn into a relegation fight during the campaign's closing weeks.
The only side yet to draw a top-flight game since the turn of the year - losing seven times in the process - they occupy 15th spot in the table but remain uncomfortably close to the dotted line. Sitting only four points above 18th-placed Venezia, having played a game more, Sampdoria are certainly not out of the woods yet.
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Team News
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Max Allegri has been dealt several injury blows of late - particularly in defence, where he has had to improvise several times in recent weeks. However, positive news finally arrives from the treatment table for the Juventus coach, who will have full-backs Mattia De Sciglio and Alex Sandro at his disposal on Saturday.
A long list of absentees remain, though, and January signing Denis Zakaria joins both Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini on the sidelines again - the latter pair could return in time for next Wednesday's Champions League clash against Villarreal.
Paulo Dybala continues to be a doubt, too, while long-term injury victims Federico Chiesa, Weston McKennie and Kaio Jorge also miss the trip to Liguria.
In Dybala's absence, Alvaro Morata should start up front alongside Moise Kean, while Dusan Vlahovic is finally rested.
The home side will also welcome back two squad members, as Kristoffer Askildsen and Vladyslav Supriaha - absent in recent weeks due to injury - are back in the fold for Juve's visit.
Though Mikkel Damsgaard and Manolo Gabbiadini will remain out of action for several weeks yet, Ronaldo Vieira could be available if he can overcome bronchitis ahead of the game.
Meanwhile, in midfield, Morten Thorsby returns from suspension, while former Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella is in contention to start up front.
Sampdoria possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Thorsby, Rincon, Candreva; Sensi; Caputo, Quagliarella
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Danilo, De Ligt, Rugani, Pellegrini; Locatelli, Arthur, Rabiot; Cuadrado, Kean, Morata
We say: Sampdoria 1-2 Juventus
With rock-bottom Salernitana next to play in Serie A, Juve's unbeaten run should continue until next month's Derby d'Italia at least, as they can come away from Marassi with all three points.
While rarely an attractive watch, Allegri's men are becoming well versed in the practice of seeing out narrow victories, while their opponents have previously won just four times from 14 attempts on home turf.
Top 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 56.62%. A draw had a probability of 22.3% and a win for Sampdoria had a probability of 21.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Juventus win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.91%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (9.79%) and 0-2 (9.27%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.46%), while for a Sampdoria win it was 2-1 (5.59%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 6.3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Juventus would win this match.
