With the Scudetto apparently out of reach and European glory a long shot, Juventus continue their quest for silverware on Thursday, as they host Sassuolo in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.
Though the cup holders have improved enough to enter Serie A's top four after Sunday's win against Verona, their sluggish start to the campaign featured a shock home loss to the Neroverdi back in October, so vengeance may also be on their minds.
Match preview
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Having kicked off their defence of the Coppa Italia with a comfortable 4-1 victory over Sampdoria last month, 14-time winners Juventus are now just two steps away from the final, and return to the competition amid some fine league form.
Not only did the Bianconeri's victory at the weekend help them leapfrog faltering Atalanta in the top-four race - with their deficit to the lead of Inter also falling further, to eight points - they have also won eight times from 12 attempts since the start of December and are starting to resemble the Juve of old.
Two integral pieces in Max Allegri's masterplan may well have been added in recent days, as both big-money signing Dusan Vlahovic and bargain buy Denis Zakaria found the net on their debuts against Verona - promising a productive springtime ahead.
In order to set up a two-legged Coppa Italia semi-final versus either Atalanta or Fiorentina next month, though, Juve must first overcome a side which stunned them with a late goal at the Allianz Stadium earlier this term, in a humbling 2-1 loss.
Having most recently lifted the trophy by edging out Atalanta in last year's final - when the now-injured Federico Chiesa scored the winner at Sassuolo's Mapei Stadium - Allegri's men will be seeking to extend the club's record tally of Coppa triumphs still further, having already claimed five more than any other team.
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As the weight of history is so clearly against them when they travel to Turin this week, Sassuolo could have done without crashing to a morale-sapping defeat at the weekend - against the struggling side Juve recently put out of the Coppa.
Alessio Dionisi saw his side picked off by a clinical Sampdoria on Sunday afternoon, with Neroverdi old boys Francesco Caputo and Stefano Sensi among the scorers in a 4-0 defeat for the visitors at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Still in a comfortable mid-table spot in Serie A despite a sequence of results featuring just two wins from their last eight league and cup games - one of which was the last-16 win over lowly Cagliari - the Emilian outfit have fallen short of the high standards set during recent campaigns.
Even if Jeremie Boga departed for Atalanta during the January transfer window and Caputo left last summer, Dionisi still has a talented attacking trident at his disposal - so is entitled to expect even more from Italy internationals Giacomo Raspadori, Gianluca Scamacca and captain Domenico Berardi on Thursday.
Having never before lifted the Coppa Italia, the Neroverdi will be determined to repeat the unlikely events of the autumn, but having to overcome Juventus on their own patch for a second time this term means they remain distant outsiders for the trophy.
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Team News
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Max Allegri is likely to make changes from the side which defeated Verona on Sunday but is still expected to name a strong Juventus starting XI, which could again include Dusan Vlahovic - scorer of 18 Serie A goals this season.
Though Moise Kean remains an option, the Serbian centre-forward will compete with Alvaro Morata to lead the line for the Bianconeri, with Paulo Dybala also in line to feature in the front three.
While long-term injury victim Federico Chiesa is set to be joined by Alex Sandro and Federico Bernardeschi on the sidelines - and veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini is a doubt - former Sassuolo star Manuel Locatelli is back in action after serving a Serie A suspension.
The visitors, meanwhile, are expected to keep a more settled side despite their heavy weekend defeat, but French forward Gregoire Defrel - who has been involved in three goals in his last four league games against Juventus - is a contender to force his way into the front line.
Full-back Rogerio returns to the Sassuolo squad after missing out on the trip to Sampdoria through suspension, but Filip Djuricic remains out due to a longstanding hamstring problem.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Perin; De Sciglio, De Ligt, Bonucci, Pellegrini; Locatelli, Arthur, McKennie; Dybala, Vlahovic, Cuadrado
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Muldur, Ayhan, Ferrari, Rogerio; Frattesi, Lopez, Henrique; Raspadori, Scamacca, Berardi
We say: Juventus 3-1 Sassuolo
Undoubtedly their best chance of claiming a trophy from another below-par campaign, Juventus should take securing progress to the semis seriously and will go all-out against a streaky Sassuolo side.
The visitors will be meeting Juve in a Coppa Italia tie for the first time ever, but due to their defensive deficiencies it is unlikely to be an auspicious occasion.
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 65.73%. A draw had a probability of 18.6% and a win for Sassuolo had a probability of 15.68%.
The most likely scoreline for a Juventus win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.73%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.32%) and 1-0 (8.07%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.42%), while for a Sassuolo win it was 1-2 (4.39%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-1 win for Juventus in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Juventus.
