Overview
Juventus is entering a decisive stage in the race to win a Champions League spot as self-determination is still in the hands of Luciano Spalletti's team.
The Turin team is currently only one point ahead of AC Milan and Roma - the two chasing teams behind - while Como is only 2 points behind. This means Juventus is almost forced to win both final rounds if they want to secure a place in the top 4 of Serie A.
In the most recent round, Bianconeri defeated Lecce 1-0 thanks to a very early goal by Dusan Vlahovic after only 12 seconds of play. Despite missing many opportunities and making Spalletti dissatisfied with his finishing ability, Juventus still extended their unbeaten streak to 11 matches in all competitions.
Juventus's biggest strength at this time lies in the defense. In the last 9 rounds of Serie A, the black and white striped team has only conceded 2 goals - the best record in the top five European national championships. They also kept a clean sheet in 7 matches during that period.
Stable form and home advantage help Juventus be highly rated before hosting Fiorentina this weekend. The Allianz home team has also only lost one of the last 17 times they have hosted Fiorentina in Turin.
However, Fiorentina is still a potentially difficult opponent. The purple shirt team is unbeaten in three recent encounters with Juventus, including a 1-1 draw in the first leg in November.
After a period of crisis at the beginning of the season, Fiorentina has completed their relegation target and is currently not under much pressure. The Tuscany team won 25 points in the second leg - 12 points more than in the first leg, the biggest improvement in Serie A this season.
However, Fiorentina's recent form is not really convincing. They have not won in 4 consecutive matches since being eliminated from the Conference League, including a heavy 0-4 defeat to Roma.
In the context that the future of coach Paolo Vanoli is still unclear, the away trip to Turin may become the last chance for Fiorentina to make a mark before the season ends.
Personnel situation
Juventus almost has full force for the reception of Fiorentina when only Juan Cabal and Arkadiusz Milik are absent due to injury. This means Spalletti is likely to keep most of the squad that just defeated Lecce in the previous round.
The most notable change may come in midfield, where Khephren Thuram is expected to return to the starting lineup to replace Teun Koopmeiners after being benched in the match at Via del Mare.
On the other side, Fiorentina is at risk of not being able to use Moise Kean in this striker's return to Turin due to a tibia injury that has not fully recovered.
However, Paolo Vanoli received positive signals when Roberto Piccoli returned to full training. The return of this striker means that young talent Riccardo Braschi is likely to be on the bench.
Expected lineup:
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Kalulu, Bremer, Kelly, Cambiaso, Thuram, Locatelli, Conceicao, McKennie, Yildiz, Vlahovic.
Fiorentina: De Gea, Dodo, Pongracic, Ranieri, Gosens, Fagioli, Parisi, Ndour, Mandragora, Solomon, Piccoli.
The match between Juventus and Fiorentina takes place at 5:00 p.m. on May 17 (Vietnam time).
