Juventus vs Manchester United - Competition: UEFA Champions League
Date: 7 November 2018 - Kick-off Time: 20:00 GMT - 21:00 CET
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Torino
Juventus claimed a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, and maintained their 100 per cent winning record in Champions League this season, having already beaten Valencia (0-2 away) and Young Boys (3-0 at home) in the first two fixtures. They are one of only two teams yet to concede in the competition. Furthermore, Juve haven't lost a Champions League group stage match at home since December 2009. The Old Lady also top the Italian Serie A table 6 points clear of SSC Napoli and Inter, having dropped only two points so far after 11 matches when held 1-1 at home by Genoa.
Juventus team are in the middle of an injury crisis. Emre Can, Federico Bernardeschi, Douglas Costa and Moses Kean are all injured while Joao Cancelo and Giorgio Chiellini are major doubts. Plus, Leonardo Spinazzola is unlikely to be involved due to a lack of match fitness. Manager Massimiliano Allegri is likely to play with a 4-3-3 formation, opting for the "heavy tridente" upfront formed by Mario Mandzukic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala. The likes of Sami Khedira, Rodrigo Betancur and Miralem Pjanic will anchor the midfield.
Manchester United team extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to four matches with their 2-1 win at Bournemouth on Saturday. Anyway, Jose Mourinho's men were exposed on too many occasions and would have been out of the match by half-time had the Cherries taken their chances. In UCL, the Red Devils are second in the table with four points (two ahead of Valencia) after the Spanish outfit surprisingly only managed a draw with group minnows Young Boys last time out. They were outclassed in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford two weeks ago despite narrowly losing to Juve (0-1).
Josè Mourinho dropped Lukaku from United's squad entirely for the weekend's win at Vitality Stadium but the Belgian is expected to lead the line at the Allianz Stadium, flanked by Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez. The likes of Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford provide further offensive options. Ander Herrera is expected to join Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic in the middle of the park while Victor Lindelof is favourite over Phil Jones and Eric Bailly for the centre back spot alongside Chris Smalling. Antonio Valencia, Marouane Fellaini and Diogo Dalot remain sidelined.
Probable lineups:
Juventus: Szczesny – Cancelo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Alex Sandro – Bentancur, Pjanic, Matuidi – Cuadrado, Dybala, Ronaldo.
Manchester United: de Gea – Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw – Fred, Matic, Pogba – Rashford, Lukaku, Martial.
