Overview
Temporarily forgetting the sadness of being eliminated from the Champions League by PSV, Juventus found joy again by defeating Cagliari in Serie A. This result helped Bianconeri extend their domestic winning streak to 4. Before that, coach Thiago Motta's team defeated Empoli, Como and Inter Milan in turn.
In the upcoming reunion with Empoli, Juventus will have home advantage. Specifically, they have won 4/5 of their most recent matches at the Allianz Stadium. The Bianconeri scored a total of 9 goals against their opponents, with many different strikers leaving their mark such as Dusan Vlahovic, Randal Kolo Muani, Francisco Conceicao and Samuel Mbanguela. The diversity in attack will help coach Motta be flexible in many different options.
As for Empoli, they are in a serious crisis. The team of coach Roberto D'Aversa is currently going through 11 matches without knowing the taste of victory, with the last 4 matches losing (against Juventus, AC Milan, Udinese, Atalanta). Also in these 4 matches, Empoli scored only 1 goal and conceded 14 times.
Empoli is also behind Juventus in terms of head-to-head record. They have failed to beat the Bianconeri in their last four meetings with two defeats and two draws. In the meeting a few weeks ago in Serie A, Juventus defeated their opponent with a score of 4-1. Juventus are likely to beat Empoli to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals this year.
Notably, Juventus currently holds the record for the number of Coppa Italia championships (15 times), most recently in 2024. In the past 10 years, they have increased this title 6 times.
Personnel situation
Juventus will not have the services of some injured players in this match. That is the case of changeaso, Bremer, Pierre Kalulu and Juan Cabal.
On the other side of the front line, Empoli are also absent from Sazonov, Solbakken and Pellegri due to injury.
Expected lineup:
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Weah, Gatti, Savona, McKennie, Thuram, Douglas Luiz, Conceicao, Yildiz, Mbangula, Vlahovic.
Empoli: Vasquez, Goglichidze, Ismajli, Sambia, Gyasi, Henderson, Anjorin, De sciglio, Esposito, Fazzini, Colombo.
The match between Juventus and Empoli takes place at 3:00 am on February 27 (Vietnam time).
