Fighting against relegation, Verona host Juventus on Saturday, December 30th, in the match that closes the nineteenth round of the Italian Championship, the last of the first round and 2017. Scheduled to start at 17:45 (Brasília time), the will be held at the Marc’Antonio Bentegodi stadium in Verona.
Verona’s recent performance
The Verona side were beaten 4-0 by Udinese in Udine on the previous day. In this way, he could not get out of the 13 points (three wins, four draws and 11 losses) remaining in the nineteenth (penultimate) position.
The thrashing reinforced the thesis of those who blame the fragile defensive system as the main responsible for the low use of Verona. The team was leaked 36 times in 18 matches. The exact average of two goals per game is not worse than Benevento, who with 17 losses in 18 games saw his goalkeeper get the ball in the net in 41 opportunities.
The attack, which is not among the worst in Serie A, has not been able to compensate for this problem. To make matters worse for coach Fabio Pecchia, the medical department has received a large number of athletes. The veteran defender Nicolo Cherubim (still without performances in the 2017/2018 season of the Italian Championships, Mattia Valoti (13 matches, no goal) and Mattia Zaccagni (six matches, scoreless) are in doubt, , and attackers Alessio Cerci (14 games, two goals) and Salim Fared Mohamed (12 games, no goal).
The current form of Juventus
With six victories in the last seven matches, Juventus managed to advance to the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup, secure their place in the last 16 of the European Champions League and take the Italian league’s top spot. In Serie A, he has 44 points (14 wins, two draws and two losses).
In addition to the results, fans could watch the reassembly of the defensive wall of Juventus, which had moments of great instability at the beginning of the season. The team has not conceded a goal in the past eight games.
This number, which would be spectacular anyway, is made even more significant by the sensational goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (10 games in the 2017/2018 Italian Championship season) not having taken part in five of those clashes. He is injured and it is unknown if he can play this Saturday. Poland’s Wojciech Szczesny (eight games) has given the necessary safety to the defensive system, which should have two more casualties for the duel against Verona. They are in the infirmary Mattia de Scigliio (five games, one goal) and Benedikt Howedes (a game, no goal).
History of the matches
Verona stopped in May 2016 with a 2-1 win at their stadium, a series of 12 matches without being able to beat Juve, who won ten of those matches and drew twice.
There is a technical chasm separating the teams. This makes Juventus, even acting out of their dominions, be wide favorite for the match. This is reflected by the price of 1.25 offered by Rivalo. Verona is the great underdog of the nineteenth round of the Italian Championship. If it expires, it will promote the multiplication of the invested capital by 12.00. Draw draws 6.00 for 1.
