Juventus are desperate to get their top four charge back on track

Juventus will be hoping to get a new manager bounce when they host Genoa in an Italian Serie A fixture on Saturday. The Turin club are desperate to get their top four charge back on track and should have the upper hand over the visitors, who often struggle on their travels and have injury problems at the moment.

Juventus are coming off a 3-0 defeat at Fiorentina in their previous Serie fixture, their second straight loss following a 4-0 thrashing at home by Atalanta. That result was the final straw in a string of poor performances which led to the sacking of manager Thiago Motta during the international break.

Igor Tudor is the new man in charge and the former Lazio gaffer could have something to work with as Juventus have won four of their last five Serie A matches. The manager has a reputation for attacking football but must also find a way to tighten up at the back, with the Turin club conceding seven goals in their last two matches.

Genoa head to Turin off the back of a 2-1 victory over Lecce last time out in Serie A. That result means Patrick Vieira’s men are now unbeaten in their last four matches, a run that takes them up to 12th in the table, five points off the top half.

One area that needs improvement for Genoa is their away form as they are winless in their last six Serie A matches on the road. Their task in Turin is made even more difficult as their team is depleted at the moment with key players like Vitinha, Junior Messias, Morten Thorsby and Caleb Ekuban all part of a lengthy injury list.

Juventus have a 27-5 advantage with 11 draws from 43 previous matches against Genoa. The Turin club also eased to a 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in September, with Dusan Vlahovic netting a brace.

Juventus will be without Andrea Cambiaso, Douglaz Luiz, Arkadiusz Milik, Juan Cabal and Gleison Bremer due to injury. However, Manuel Locatelli, Weston McKennie and Dusan Vlahovic are all fit and expected to start.

Thorsby, Ekuban, Hugo Cuenca, Lior Kassa, Mario Balotelli, Fabio Miretti, Junior Messias, Mattia Bani, Vitinha, Honest Ahanor and Maxwel Cornet are all injured for Genoa. Aaron Martin is also suspended but Pinamonti, Ruslan Malinovsky, Alessandro Zanoli are all expected to start.

Juventus: Di Gregorio, Weah, Veiga, Kelly, Kalulu, Locatelli, Thuram, Gonzalez, McKennie, Koopmeiners, Vlahovic.
Genoa: Leali, Sabelli, De Winter, Vasquez, Martin, Frendrup, Masini, Zanoli, Malinovsky, Onana, Pinamonti.