Juventus host AS Roma this weekend at the Allianz Stadium as both sides look to maintain their unbeaten start to the Serie A campaign. The Old Lady have started the season with a 3-0 opening weekend victory over Sassuolo and a 0-0 draw away to Sampdoria last weekend.
The Giallorossi have earned two 1-0 victories away to Salernitana and Cremonese at home. Juventus are unbeaten in the previous four fixtures between these sides, most recently Juve earned a 3-4 victory away at the Stadio Olimpico.
Juventus are set to be without new signing Paul Pogba with a meniscal injury and may be out till the World Cup. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and new signing Angel Di Maria are both out with abductor muscle tears but are expected to be fit by the end of the month. Therefore, Perin is expected to start in goal with Juan Cuadrado on the right wing.
Di Maria is a huge loss for The Old Lady after impressing on his Serie A debut vs Sassuolo. Another talented winger Federico Chiesa is nearing a return from the cruciate ligament rupture he sustained in January but isn't expected to be involved till October at the earliest.
Predicted Juventus XI: Perin, Danilo, Bremer, Bonucci, Sandro, Locatelli, Zakaria, McKennie, Kostic, Cuadrado, Vlahovic.
Roma's injury woes are not quite as bad as Juventus'. However, they have had a massive blow over the past few days. New signing Georginio Wijnaldum suffered a fractured tibia during training, meaning he is set for a considerable amount of time on the sidelines. Jose Mourinho said: "Sometimes football can be s**t. In only 2 weeks, Gini became one of us because of his human qualities (his football qualities we already knew).”
Nicolo Zaniolo was withdrawn in the 1-0 win over Cremonese with a shoulder injury that is expected to keep him out till late September. Paulo Dybala faces his former team for the first time since leaving this summer on a free transfer after failing to agree on terms of a new contract.
Predicted Roma XI: Patricio, Ibanez, Smalling, Mancini, Spinazzola, Matic, Cristante, Karsdorp, Pellegrini, Dybala, Abraham.