Juve in search of back-to-back Serie A victories.
[introduction]
Juventus vs. Fiorentina kicks off at 17:00 [GMT] on Sunday, December 29, at Allianz Stadium.
[home]
Juventus finally broke their streak of four draws [DDDDW] with a 2-1 win over Monza last time out. Weston McKennie [14′] and Nicolás González [39′] scored on either side of Samuele Birindelli’s [22′] left-footed volley for Monza. “We were in the position to do the transitions with quality in the second half when we were in the lead, but we didn’t do it well enough,” Thiago Motta said, acknowledging the game could have been wrapped up earlier. That victory extended the Old Lady’s unbeaten streak on the domestic front to 18 games, including 17 in Serie A. Despite remaining unbeaten in the league, Juventus have drawn 10 of their 17 matches in this campaign, making it 20 draws for the Old Lady in 2024, a record only second to Perugia’s 22 draws in 1979. Juventus remained sixth despite last weekend’s win, having 31 points [7W, 10D, 0L], three points off the top four. Motta’s men take on fellow top-four hopefuls Fiorentina, hoping to build on the win over Monza. The Old Lady have dominated this fixture as hosts, winning 12 of their last 13 home games against the visitors. In addition, the last three league meetings between both sides have ended 1-0 in favour of the Old Lady. Dušan Vlahović is expected to remain in attack when Motta deploys the 4—2—3—1 formation.
[away]
Recent weeks have not been kind to Fiorentina, who have now lost their last two league matches [WWWLL] by a one-goal margin. The Viola were on a seven-match winning streak in Serie A before the 1-0 loss to Bologna and most recently, a 2-1 defeat at home to Udinese. “We had started so well, breaking the deadlock straight away and creating chances,” Raffaele Palladino told DAZN after the loss to Udinese. ‘However, once we felt in control, we just stopped playing, and that is not something we can afford to do,’ he added. With 31 points [9W, 4D, 3L], Fiorentina have just as many points as Sunday’s opponents, who are only ahead in 5th place due to their superior goal difference. Hoping to end their two-game losing streak in the league, the Viola will aim to regain the away form that previously allowed them to go four consecutive games on the road without conceding. However, the visitors have lost more away games against Juventus [58] than against any other side in Serie A. Former Juve forward Moise Kean, who has scored 10 league goals, is expected to lead the line in a 4—2—3—1 formation.
