Serie A Preview: Hellas Verona vs Juventus – Team News, Line-ups & Prediction | OneFootball

Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi sets the stage for a ‘David vs Goliath’ Serie A clash between Hellas Verona and Juventus. The two teams with starkly contrasting ambitions go head-to-head on Saturday, with the home side seeking their first league win of the season.

Despite dominating the play and creating numerous clear-cut chances, Hellas Verona could only manage a scoreless home draw against newly promoted Cremonese on Monday. Paolo Zanetti’s side generated a commendable 1.46 xG but couldn’t find the way past Emil Audero.

As a result, they head into proceedings with two points from three matches, having also drawn with Udinese on the opening weekend. However, a 4-0 rout at the hands of Lazio in round two should serve as a stark reminder of their long-standing struggles against the division’s top teams.

Juventus fit into this category, especially now that they seem ready to challenge for the Scudetto after several underwhelming seasons. The record-time Italian champions reaffirmed their title credentials last weekend, pulling off a stunning late comeback to beat fierce Derby d’Italia rivals Inter 4-3 on home turf.

In doing so, Igor Tudor’s men completed a hat-trick of wins at the start of a new Serie A season for the first time since 2018/19. Fatigue threatens to undermine Juve’s stellar domestic run as they had to fight back three times to hold Borussia Dortmund to a 4-4 home draw in their Champions League opener on Tuesday.

Match Preview

Hellas Verona

Despite a raft of promising-looking summer signings, scoring remains an issue for Verona. Zanetti’s men have only found the net once in the first three league games and are still waiting for TSG Hoffenheim loanee Gift Orban to get on the scoresheet. While it’s better late than never, this doesn’t look like a favorable match-up for the hosts.

Juventus claimed a league double over Verona last season, winning both fixtures by 2+ goals to nil en route to taking their unbeaten run against the Giallorossi to seven matches (W6, D1). It could prove easier said than done to break that drought, but Zanetti’s team can take courage from their impressive defensive performance against Cremonese.

It marked their first clean sheet across ten games in all competitions. Zanetti will expect more of the same on Saturday as Verona seek only their second win across their last 14 home outings (D6, L7). Yet, seven defeats from eight encounters against the top four teams in 2024/25 paint a bleak picture (W1).

Juventus

With Verona failing to score in six of those seven losses, the visiting backline could have a field day. Gleison Bremer’s return from injury has shored up Juve’s defensive woes, with the visitors keeping two clean sheets in the first three Serie A rounds. Bringing the tail-end of last season into the equation, Juventus have won five consecutive league games.

Tudor’s side will be out to make it six in a row for the first time since January 2023 and briefly go alone at the top of the standings. Though all the signs point to the away side’s routine win, Juventus would be naive to take Verona for granted. Indeed, they’ve registered partial success across their last eight league visits to the Bentegodi (W3, D2, L3).

Confidence comes from their stellar away record against last season’s bottom-half finishers. Juventus won six of their ten road clashes against such opposition in 2024/25 (D3, L1), including a dominant 3-0 victory at this stadium. As if that’s not encouraging enough, the Turin giants have beaten Verona without conceding in six of their last seven meetings.

Team News

Roberto Gagliardini joined the likes of Daniel Mosquera, Tomas Suslov, and Nicolas Valentini on the sidelines after picking up a shoulder injury against Cremonese earlier this week. After failing to impress on his home debut, Orban will likely drop to the bench, with Amine Sarr likely to partner Giovane in attack.

On the other hand, long-term absentee Arkadiusz Milik remains out of contention. However, Francisco Conceicao has resumed full training and could return to the starting XI tomorrow. Meanwhile, Andrea Cambiaso is back from suspension, meaning he will likely take Weston McKennie’s place at wingback.

Hellas Verona vs Juventus Potential Starting Line-ups

Hellas Verona (3-5-2): Montipo; Nunez, Nelsson, Frese; Belghali, Akpra Akpro, Serdar, Bernede, Bradaric; Giovane, Sarr.

Juventus (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; Gatti, Bremer, Kelly; Kalulu, Thuram, Locatelli, Cambiaso; Conceicao, Yildiz; Vlahovic.

Hellas Verona vs Juventus Prediction

Except for a calamitous performance against Lazio, Verona have shown an admirable fighting spirit in the early season. Therefore, they will not go down without a fight despite seeing the odds firmly stacked against them. However, we expect Juventus to maintain their 100% record in Serie A this term and take home three points.