Overview
The defeat to Lazio last weekend marked Juventus' third consecutive loss in all competitions.
Juventus last won all 3 points in mid-September, when they defeated Inter Milan in the Derby d'Italy with a rather lucky goal. It was also their only shot on target in this match.
Since the 0-2 defeat to Como and 0-1 to Real Madrid - along with the tense goalless draw with AC Milan - the Turin team has now failed to score for nearly 400 minutes. Their most recent goal was against Francisco Conceicao against Villarreal.
With only 2 points after 3 opening matches in the Champions League, Juventus continues to play below expectations in the European arena, causing the seat of coach Igor Tudor to increasingly shake.
The final dismissal decision was made right before the reunion with old club Udinese - where Tudor helped them stay in the league during their first term leading the friuli team.
After a 2-0 home win in May, Juventus have won 13 of their last 16 encounters with Udinese in Serie A. At least, history is on their side as caretaker coach Massimo Brambilla prepares for the next match, in the hope of stopping the "Old Daxys" streak of decline.
In fact, the visiting team Udinese have only scored one goal in their last seven encounters with Juventus - a streak in which they have suffered six defeats.
This time, Udinese will face Juventus directly in the rankings, when they are in the midfield with 12 points after 8 rounds.
In the recent win over Lecce, captain Jesper Karlstrom opened the scoring with his first goal in Serie A, before young star Arthur atta assisted Keinan Davis to double the gap.
Although friulani's defense later conceded a free kick, substitute Adam Buksa helped the away team regain the advantage with a typical counter-attack, before Lecce reduced the score in extra time.
The fourth consecutive victory over Salentini helped Kosta Runjaic and his team rise to the top half of the Serie A rankings, only behind Juventus due to a poor goal difference.
Now, Udinese will aim to maintain their impressive form away from home - where only AS Roma have won more points than them since the beginning of the season.
Personnel situation
Juventus will still be without Bremer and Juan Cabal due to injury. In addition, caretaker coach Massimo Brambilla still has almost all the squad to choose from.
The Italian coach is facing a difficult problem in attack, with Lois Openda, Jonathan David and Dusan Vlahovic all competing for a starting position. The two players were paired up in the match against Lazio but could not score.
Familiar pillars such as Michele Di Gregorio, Kenan Yildiz and Khephren Thuram were all benched last weekend, but are likely to return to the starting lineup to welcome Udinese.
On the other hand, Udinese have only had one notable absence, Danish centre-back Thomas Kristensen, who is still recovering from a thigh injury.
Striker Keinan Davis, the team's number one striker, will continue to lead the attack, with Nicolo Zaniolo as the most potential partner.
In goal, Kosta Runjaic publicly defended goalkeeper Maduka Okoye after a few mistakes in the match against Lecce, saying that was understandable when he had just returned from a long-term suspension. Therefore, the Nigeria international is expected to continue to start in Turin.
Expected lineup:
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Kalulu, Gatti,elly, Conceicao, Locatelli, Thuram, changeaso, Koopmeiners, Yildiz, Vlahovic.
Udinese: Okoye, Bertola, Kabasele, Solet, Zanoli, Piotrowski, Karlstrom, atta, Kamara, Zaniolo, Davis.
The match between Juventus and Udinese takes place at 0:30 am on October 30 (Vietnam time).
