Pisa vs Juventus Serie A football prediction

Overview

Juventus closed another year of many inadequacies - with prolonged ups and downs - but signs of recovery have become clear under new coach Luciano Spalletti.

Although the start was still uncertain, the former captain of the Italian national team has raised Juventus' performance to an average of 2 points/match since taking over the hot seat from Igor Tudor, who previously only achieved 1.50 points/match.

For the second consecutive week, the "Old Lady" defeated a top 4 opponent. After a narrow victory over Bologna, they continued to defeat Roma right in Turin. Francisco Conceicao opened the score before Lois Openda scored his first goal in Serie A, contributing to helping Bianconeri win 2-1 against Spalletti's old team.

This is Juventus's sixth victory in the last 7 matches - more than the number of wins in the previous 16 matches. This is a period when they are constantly held back by draws.

Thanks to an impressive streak of results, Juventus is closer to the Champions League knockout round, improving their position in Serie A and winning a ticket to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals. Currently ranked 5th and only 4 points behind the leading team Inter Milan, Juventus cannot be eliminated from the Scudetto race.

This weekend, the basis for Juventus to extend their winning streak is even clearer, as they have never lost to Pisa in 14 previous encounters, winning 10 matches.

The last time Pisa welcomed Juventus in Tuscany was nearly 35 years ago. And that was the day Juventus won big 5-1 with Roberto Baggio scoring a double, and Pierluigi Casiraghi scoring a hat-trick.

In the opposite direction, Pisa is not only burdened with historical weight but is also being questioned about form. After a relatively promising start in the return season, the Serie B runner-up last season lost 3 of the last 4 matches. Including two consecutive 0-1 defeats to direct opponents in the relegation race, Parma and Lecce.

Last Sunday at Cagliari stadium, Alberto Gilardino's team almost suffered another defeat after taking the lead, but Stefano Moreo's late goal helped them salvage 1 point.

While the mid-season is taking place, Pisa is 19th, only ranked above Fiorentina - a team that is also in crisis. With the fact that Pisa has only had one victory and one goal at Arena Garibaldi since promotion, creating a surprise against Juventus is therefore considered a particularly difficult task.

Personnel situation

The personnel crisis in Juventus' defense has not shown signs of cooling down, as Daniele Rugani has just returned and continues to be on long-term leave due to injury. In the match against Roma, this center-back made his first appearance since the beginning of November, in the context that Juventus has already lost Bremer.

When Federico Gatti also could not play, Luciano Spalletti was almost out of options in the true sense for the 3-center-back system. Notably, midfielder Teun Koopmeiners has been pulled down to play unintentionally in the defense in recent weeks.

On Pisa's side, top scorer M'Bala Nzola is on duty at AFCON with the Angolan national team, and Nigerian midfielder Ebenezer Akinsanmiro is also participating in the tournament in Morocco.

In the front line, Stefano Moreo will compete with Matteo Tramoni to pair with Henrik Meister (Nzola's replacement option). Moreo currently has 4 appearances in Serie A this season, but the limitation is that he has not scored any goals at home.

Expected lineup:

Semper, Canestrelli, Caracciolo, Bonfanti, Toure, Vural, Piccinini, Aebischer, Angori, Tramoni, Meister.

Di Gregorio, Kalulu, Bremer, Koopmeiners, McKennie, Locatelli, Thuram, Cambiaso, Miretti, Yildiz, Openda.