Scudetto duel, sixteenth act. The race for the tricolour, currently the prerogative of Inter e Juventus, starts again from Genoa, where Allegri's Bianconeri will inaugurate the (long) Serie A weekend. Once again they will be the ones to 'deal cards' first, which triggers, in addition to the inevitable controversies, a double-edged sword: playing for first, in fact, it is an advantage in case of victory, vice versa it becomes a very important assist for the competition. On paper the round seems favorable to Juve, given that the Genoa of Gilardino (without a win since 10 November, since then one draw and three defeats) is certainly inferior to Sarri's Lazio, but makes Marassi its fortress, as demonstrated by the 11 points won out of the 15 total.
Genoa – Juventus (20.45pm, Dazn)
Delicate match, as explained by Massimiliano Allegri in the press conference, because another victory would send a very strong signal on the Juve's championship ambitions, assuming there is still a need. Conquering the Marassi rossoblu is never easy for anyone, but this lady has all the weapons to succeed: the path away from Turin, moreover, is of the highest level (16 points out of 21 available, only Inter and Napoli have done better), as well as the hunger for success of the team, club and coach. It is impossible to establish with certainty what type of match it will be, but certainly the two teams have a soul devoted to the short-nosed, even if with inevitable differences in performance. The Bianconeri have scored little compared to their ranking position, but the Rossoblu are doing much worse: since Retegui and Gudmundsson stopped, in fact, their offensive performance has collapsed. The defenses, on the other hand, are holding up well, which bodes well a very tactical and blocked challenge, where the margin of error will be very low. For Juve this is the beginning of an easy path (on paper), because between now and 4 February, the day of the return match against Inter, they will face Roma as the only big names, compared to Genoa, Frosinone, Salernitana, Sassuolo, Lecce and Empoli. The conditions for a streak are all there, but otherwise things would get complicated: in the spring the calendar will present the bill and any points lost before, for obvious reasons, could weigh heavily.
Allegri doesn't change his tune: "The favorites for the scudetto are Inter, they say so too"
“Inter are the favourites, they were built to win the championship – reiterated Allegri -. They said it, President Zhang confirmed it at the Christmas dinner... We have a different path: There are players who are doing well and I'm happy with them, but we still need to improve. We need to take one small step at a time, the championship is a journey, we need balance, serenity and the ability to manage difficult moments. At the beginning of the summer I think it would have been difficult to imagine a ranking like this, we started with the awareness of our limits, we became a team, but it's still not enough. Must keep your feet on the ground, because then a negative result can change the vision of the future. We must think first of all about Genoa, which will be an important obstacle. We will try to score as many points as possible, but our objective remains to secure one of the top four places."
Genoa–Juventus, the lineups: Rabiot regularly on the pitch, Kean out for 3-4 weeks
Only one important defection for Allegri, who loses Kean for 3-4 weeks following a tibia injury. The coach, however, can smile, first of all for Rabiot's recovery: the Frenchman, who came out of the match against Napoli with a blow to his foot, has recovered from the pain and will be on the pitch regularly. Juventus will thus be able to rely on the usual 3-5-2 with Szczesny in goal, Gatti, Bremer and Danilo in defense, Cambiaso, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot and Kostic in midfield, Vlahovic and Chiesa in attack, with Milik ready to take over from the bench . Bad news for Gilardino instead, forced once again to give up Retegui: the Italian-Argentine had a physical problem in Monza, so he will miss the match at Marassi. The rossoblu coach will be forced to reinvent the attack, in a 3-5-2 with Martinez between the posts, Dragusin, Bani and Vasquez in the defensive department, Sabelli, Frendrup, Badelj, Malinovski and Haps in the midfield, Messias (also not at his best) and Gudmundsson an offensive duo.
