Preview: Juventus vs. Fiorentina - prediction, team news, lineups

Juventus will be looking to return to winning ways in Serie A when they welcome Fiorentina to Turin on Sunday.

The Italian champions suffered a 2-1 defeat at Napoli last weekend but are still top of the table, while Fiorentina sit 13th with 25 points to show from their 21 league matches during the 2019-20 campaign.

Match preview

Even with Napoli's problems this season, last weekend's clash in Naples was always likely to be a tough match for Juve. Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the latter stages of the contest, but the Portuguese's strike was not enough to pick up any points as the home team recorded a 2-1 win.

The loss ended a five-game winning run in the league, but Maurizio Sarri's side are still top of the table, three points clear of second-placed Inter Milan on the same number of matches.

It does not appear that the Old Lady will be running away with the title this season having dropped points in five of their 21 league games thus far. They are still the favourites to secure another crown, though, and will fancy their chances of picking up all three points against Fiorentina.

Juve have won four of the last five Serie A meetings between the two teams, although the pair played out a goalless draw in the reverse match earlier this season.

Last season proved to be Fiorentina's worst Serie A campaign since 2004-05 as they ended in 16th position. It was a poor end to the season in terms of results and many of those issues have surfaced again this term.

Indeed, a record of six wins, seven draws and eight defeats has left them in 13th spot in the table. La Viola are 10 points clear of the relegation zone but sit just two points ahead of Sassuolo in 15th.

Giuseppe Iachini has been in charge of the club since December 23, winning three and losing just one of his six matches since replacing Vincenzo Montella.

Fiorentina actually won three straight matches in all competitions between January 12 and January 18 before being held to a goalless draw by Genoa in the league last weekend.

The Purples also bowed out of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday night courtesy of a 2-1 loss at Inter, but there is no question that there has been an improvement since the change in management, picking up eight points from their last four Serie A fixtures.

Juventus Serie A form: WWWWWL
Juventus form (all competitions): WWWWWL

Fiorentina Serie A form: DLDWWD
Fiorentina form (all competitions): DWWWDL

Team News

Juve will again be without the services of Giorgio Chiellini, Sami Khedira, Merih Demiral and Danilo through injury, but Mattia De Sciglio and Miralem Pjanic should pass late fitness tests.

Aaron Ramsey was left on the bench last weekend but should return for this contest, while Rodrigo Bentancur is again expected to get the nod over Adrien Rabiot in the middle of the park.

Ronaldo is a certain starter in the final third of the field, and Gonzalo Higuain is being tipped to earn the role alongside the Portuguese with Paulo Dybala dropping to the bench.

As for Fiorentina, experienced attacker Franck Ribery remains on the sidelines through injury, while key defenders Martin Caceres and Nikola Milenkovic are both unavailable for selection due to suspensions.

Luca Ranieri and Federico Ceccherini are therefore in line for starts, while Gaetano Castrovilli should overcome an illness in time for Sunday's clash in Turin.

Federico Chiesa is likely to be joined in the final third by on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Patrick Cutrone, although Dusan Vlahovic is also pushing for a start.

Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt, Sandro; Matuidi, Bentancur, Pjanic; Ramsey; Ronaldo, Higuain

Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Dragowski; Ceccherini, Pezzella, Ranieri; Lirola, Benassi, Pulgar, Castrovilli, Dalbert; Chiesa, Cutrone

We say: Juventus 2-0 Fiorentina

Fiorentina have certainly improved in recent weeks, but it is difficult to imagine them picking up a result on Sunday when taking everything into consideration. Juve will be determined to bounce back from the Napoli loss and should have too much for their opponents over the 90 minutes.

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