Defending Serie A champions Juventus are hoping to start the new year with a win when they host high-flying Cagliari on Monday at Allianz Stadium in Turin. Last season Juventus defeated Cagliari 3-1 in Turin and 2-0 in Sardinia. Juventus have won all the last six direct matches, and conceded just a single goal in the process. The last time Cagliari defeated Juventus was in 2009, when they managed to beat the Bianconeri both at home and away.
Juventus ended 2019 with a defeat, they lost 3-1 to Lazio in the Italian Super Cup at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh. That was three days before Christmas, so they had plenty of time to rest and prepare for the second part of the season. The Bianconeri have won their last two Serie A matches, 3-1 against Udinese and 2-1 at Sampdoria, and they are tied on 42 points with league leaders Inter. Midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is banned for three matches so he will most likely be replaced by Adrien Rabiot, while Giorgio Chiellini and Sami Khedira are out injured.
Cagliari had a great season so far and they are in sixth place after 18 matches. However, they lost their last two league matches, 2-1 at home against in-form Lazio and 2-1 at Udinese. They have lost just four matches since the start of the campaign and it's quite interesting that they lost all those in pairs of two, with a fifteen-match unbeaten run in between. Fabio Pisacane is suspended for this match, while Alessio Cragno, Leonardo Pavoletti, Valter Birsa and Lucas Castro are all injured.
Probable line-ups:
Juventus: Szczesny - Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt, Sandro - Rabiot, Pjanic, Matuidi - Dybala - Higuain, Ronaldo
Cagliari: Olsen - Cacciatore, Ceppitelli, Klavan, Pellegrini - Nandez, Cigarini, Rog - Nainggolan - Pedro, Simeone
My prediction:
Cagliari don't really deserve to lose three consecutive matches, but Juventus can't afford to start the year with a slip-up and I think they will win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
Juventus win - 1.26
Draw - 5.95
Cagliari win - 11.00
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