Juventus vs Sassuolo

High-flying Juventus will be warm favourties to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals when they lock horns with underperforming Sassuolo at the Allianz Stadium.

New signing Dusan Vlahovic catapulted Juventus to a comprehensive 2-0 Serie A win over Hellas Verona at the weekend, with another winter addition, Denis Zakaria, sealing the victory. The record-time Italian champions will be brimming with confidence ahead of this fixture after going unbeaten in their last 13 competitive matches on the trot (W9, D4 – 90mins only). Furthermore, since a narrow 1-0 loss to Atalanta in late November, Massimiliano Allegri’s men have strung together seven competitive home games without defeat (W6, D1). Interestingly, five of those six victories yielded a full-time margin of 2+ goals, with four coming by an identical 2-0 scoreline. That should inspire Juventus’ bid to inflict revenge on Sassuolo following a heartbreaking 2-1 reverse in their Serie A clash in Turin earlier this season.

As for Sassuolo, a thumping 4-0 loss at Sampdoria last weekend put the brakes on their scoring run of five competitive matches. Once again, their defence failed to deliver the goods, with ‘I Neroverdi’ now struggling to keep a clean sheet in all 12 away games this season, conceding 2+ goals on seven occasions! However, not many teams have offered more entertainment than Sassuolo this term, as 11 of their 12 competitive travels have featured over 2.5 total goals, with ten seeing both teams on the scoresheet. Likewise, each of their last four visits to Juventus have witnessed 3+ goals and both sides scoring (W1, D1, L2). With each of those four fixtures also containing over 1.5 second-half goals, there could be plenty of excitement beyond half-time.