Juventus turn to Kolo Muani as Lazio arrive at the Allianz Stadium joint top
Luciano Spalletti's injury-hit Juventus host Gennaro Gattuso's surprise Serie A pace-setters Lazio, with both sides forced into selection compromises before kick-off in Turin.
Juventus named Randal Kolo Muani as their central striker against Lazio on Sunday, with Nico Gonzalez and Kerim Alajbegovic deployed just behind him as Luciano Spalletti tried to find a way through a side that went into the round level on points at the top of the table, according to Football Italia.
The teams were announced for a 19.45 UK kick-off (20.45 CEST) at the Allianz Juventus Stadium, with Lazio, under Gennaro Gattuso, sharing top spot alongside Inter heading into the weekend.
Juventus patch up attack amid injury list
Juventus arrive with a genuinely threadbare squad. Kenan Yildiz, Manuel Locatelli, Khephren Thuram, Jeff Ekhator and Kamil Grabara are all missing, Football Italia reported, leaving Spalletti with little scope to rotate even after a demanding European week.
Jeremie Boga has returned to the squad, but the bigger selection story is the restoration of Douglas Luiz and Kolo Muani to the starting line-up, with Pape Matar Sarr also included in central midfield. With a back three of Kalulu, Bremer and Lucumi protecting goalkeeper Vicario, and Celik, Douglas Luiz and Sarr screening in front of them, the attacking burden falls on Nico Gonzalez, Weston McKennie and Alajbegovic feeding Kolo Muani.
That front-line is being asked to solve a problem that has dogged Juventus domestically for weeks. Just one win from their last four Serie A outings — including a loss to Sassuolo and draws with Milan and Cagliari — has left them needing to close ground on the division's leaders, even as they sit top of the Europa League with a perfect record following Thursday's 2-1 comeback win at Celta Vigo.
Spalletti himself will not be on the touchline. He is serving a ban stemming from a dispute with Cagliari's Fabio Pisacane and will have to direct his side from the stands, Football Italia noted — an added complication for a team already short of bodies and rhythm.
Gattuso's Lazio arrive in rude health at the top
Lazio's position at the summit is itself the more startling fact of the round. After an early Coppa Italia exit, Gattuso's side have won five league games and drawn only once, a 2-2 result against Milan, to sit level with Inter going into this fixture, according to Football Italia.
They have managed this despite their own absentee list: Albert Gudmundsson, Matteo Cancellieri, Nicolò Rovella, Alessio Furlanetto and Adam Marusic are all unavailable. Luca Pellegrini, ineligible to feature having come through at Juventus, is named only among the substitutes against his former club.
Gattuso has kept faith with the back four that has underpinned the run — Floriani Mussolini, Bosko Sutalo, Provstgaard and Nuno Tavares, the latter continuing after a goal described by Football Italia as a standout moment in Lazio's previous match. Ahead of them, Davide Frattesi again operates as the central presence given licence to break forward, flanked by Belahyane and Taylor.
Up front, Gattuso has preferred Tijjani Noslin to Andrea Pinamonti, with Gustav Isaksen and captain Mattia Zaccagni completing a front three built on pace and movement rather than a fixed target man.
Why Frattesi's freedom matters against a short-handed defence
Frattesi's role is the detail worth following once the game is underway. Given room to surge beyond Lazio's front three rather than sit purely as a screening midfielder, he adds a runner that Juventus's patched-together back three — none of whom are recognised wing-backs stepping across to cover — will have to account for separately from Zaccagni and Isaksen's width.
Juventus, for their part, have no like-for-like deep playmaker available with Locatelli and Thuram both sidelined, which puts extra weight on Douglas Luiz to dictate tempo and on Sarr to cover ground that would normally be split across more specialist roles.
History offers Lazio some encouragement. Football Italia noted they are unbeaten in their last three meetings with Juventus, taking one win and two draws from that sequence — a pattern that sits awkwardly alongside Juventus's recent domestic slump.
For Spalletti, the immediate target is simpler than any tactical riddle: stop the bleeding in Serie A before the gap to the top becomes difficult to close, even as his side's European form offers reassurance that the squad can still perform when fit and settled. For Gattuso, the test is whether an attack built on Zaccagni, Isaksen and Noslin can keep producing against a defence as well-organised as Juventus's, even one missing several of its first-choice names.