After their title hopes took a bitter blow in last week's Derby d'Italia, Juventus will aim to start another unbeaten run on Monday, when they host Udinese at the Allianz Stadium.
Juve return to Turin following defeat to Scudetto rivals Inter Milan, while the Friulani - Serie A's draw specialists - were held goalless by Monza.
Match preview
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Having dropped points for the first time this year in a 1-1 home draw with Empoli, Juventus saw their seven-match winning streak ended at the end of January - and their first February fixture then brought just a second Serie A defeat of the season.
Federico Gatti's first-half own goal decided a top-of-the-table Derby d'Italia in Inter's favour at San Siro, opening up a four-point gap in the Nerazzurri's favour. That advantage has since grown to seven.
After a run of five consecutive league wins, while also booking their place in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Juve have therefore taken just one point from their last two matches.
Head coach Max Allegri - who will now join Marcello Lippi on 405 games in charge of Juventus, joint-second on the all-time list behind Giovanni Trapattoni (596) - has been able to prioritise Serie A this season, due to his club's European ban.
However, they have a huge task on their hands to overhaul Inter, so victory on Monday is a must - particularly as Juve have dominated Udinese for some time now.
Not only have they posted four league wins on the spin without conceding a goal to their fellow Bianconeri, but Juve last dropped a point in this equivalent fixture more than eight years ago.
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Soundly beaten 3-0 at home by Juventus in their opening game of the season, Udinese have also come away empty-handed from all of their last seven visits to the Allianz Stadium.
Confidence of causing an upset on this occasion cannot be high either, as Gabriele Cioffi's struggling side simply cannot kill off opponents and secure the points needed to pull clear of Serie A's drop zone.
Following last week's stalemate at home to Monza, the Friulani have drawn 13 times in the league this term, and only once in their top-flight history have they recorded more at this stage of a campaign - back in 1983.
Udinese have squandered the most points (15) of any side during the final 15 minutes of play - on the other hand, Juventus are one of just four teams not to have not dropped any - and they are embroiled in the battle for Serie A survival as a result.
A meagre tally of 19 points from 23 games ties the Bianconeri's worst such haul this century, and with only two wins to their name so far, they are long-shot outsiders to prevail on Monday evening.
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After notching five goals in his last four games, Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic may be forced to miss Monday's game with a thigh problem, potentially joining Mattia De Sciglio, Moise Kean and back-up goalkeeper Mattia Perin on the sidelines.
As defensive mainstay Danilo must serve a suspension, his fellow Brazilian Alex Sandro should come into the hosts' back three, in the other likely change to Max Allegri's starting XI.
With Vlahovic in doubt, Arkadiusz Milik and Federico Chiesa will vie for promotion from the bench. The latter scored in both of Juve's last two meetings with Udinese but has not started for seven Serie A matches because of fitness issues and the emergence of Turkish teenager Kenan Yildiz.
Meanwhile, Udinese captain Roberto Pereyra misses the trip to his former club due to a one-match ban for accumulated bookings; either Joao Ferreira or Kingsley Ehizibue should fill in on the right flank.
Enzo Ebosse, Jaka Bijol and Gerard Deulofeu remain unavailable, but Juve transfer target Lazar Samardzic is fit to feature in the visitors' engine room. The Serbia international is the only midfielder with at least 30 shots, 30 chances created and 30 successful dribbles in Serie A this season.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Sandro; Cambiaso, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Yildiz, Milik
Udinese possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Perez, Giannetti, Kristensen; Ferreira, Lovric, Walace, Samardzic, Zemura; Thauvin; Lucca
We say: Juventus 2-0 Udinese
The last league draw between these clubs in Turin dates back to March 1990, and despite the visitors' propensity for ending games level this season, that wait for a stalemate will go on. With a routine win on Monday, Max Allegri will become the first coach to reach 1000 points in Serie A.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
