Hellas Verona vs Juventus: Bianconeri aim to rebound after frustration
Juventus will be seeking to get back to winning ways when they travel to face Hellas Verona on Saturday, but the Gialloblu have been full of plenty of surprises. Could this tie present a potential banana peel for Massimiliano Allegri’s men?
The Bianconeri come into this game having suffered a setback, as Sassuolo managed to beat them midweek in Turin. As we all know, the Neroverdi have built their reputation off causing problems for Italy’s biggest sides, and they decided to spoil the party for Allegri on his 200th game in charge of La Vecchia Signora. This result now means that Juventus are winless in their last two matches, following a one-all draw in the Derby d’Italia against Inter last weekend.
Prior to that defeat, Juventus were on a nine game unbeaten streak across all comps, and for all intents and purposes, it seemed like Weston McKennie’s second-half equalizer just may be the turning point Juve needed. However, they made a catastrophic error in pouring numbers forward as Sassuolo were able to catch a lucky break and steal a win in injury time. Many now have started to speculate that Juve’s Scudetto ambitions are over even before they started; at the moment, the Turin giants find themselves sitting in seventh spot, a whopping 13 points behind pace-setters Napoli and AC Milan, both of whom have yet to lose a single game this season.
Meanwhile, Hellas Verona, who are currently led by Igor Tudor – the same Tudor who was sacked along with Andrea Pirlo by Juventus last season – have been pretty solid by their standards this term. The hosts presently sit in tenth spot, with just one loss from their last five games, and last season saw the Gialloblu, who were then under the tutelage of Ivan Juric, successfully hold Juventus to 1-1 draws, both home and away. Indeed, despite winning just 11 of their last 60 meetings with Juventus, which isn’t a huge surprise given the gulf between the two sides, Hellas Verona are actually unbeaten in their last three most recent clashes against La Vecchia Signora. That includes the aforementioned duo of 1-1 draws plus a 2-1 win at this same ground back in February 2020.
Hellas Verona have also pulled off their fair share of surprises, with the most recent being a 4-1 win over Lazio. They also were the team to end Roma’s unbeaten run as well as nearly spoiled the fun for AC Milan before the Rossoneri were able to snatch a late goal and win 3-2. They’ve also actually scored more goals than Juventus (22, while Juve have scored 14), which makes them among the highest-scoring sides in Serie A, with only Milan (23) and Inter (26) being more prolific in front of goal.
However, what’s cost Verona dearly in terms of points, and thus, a higher spot in the table is their leaky defense. So far, Tudor’s side have shipped 19 goals, which puts them as among the worst in the league. Only Empoli (20), Sampdoria (20), Bologna (22), Genoa (22), Salernitana (22), Cagliari (22), and Spezia (23) have fared worse – and it’s important to know that all those teams are either in the drop zone or sit in the bottom half of the table. That’s something that certainly Juventus will look to exploit as they really need to get some points on the board if they want to have any chance of possibly securing a top four spot. Verona, of course, will have other plans, and fresh on the heels of pulling off a shock 4-1 win over Lazio last weekend, they’ll be keen on doing the same here as they look to make it four meetings sans defeat against Italy’s most decorated side.
