Midweek Coppa Italia action left Salernitana manager Filippo Inzaghi disappointed his side suffered a 6-1 thrashing at Juventus despite taking an early lead. Returning to Serie A (SA) action against the same opposition, rock-bottom Salernitana will try to put that loss behind them after ending 2023 unbeaten in back-to-back games (W1, D1), including an important win over Hellas Verona in a relegation ‘six-pointer’ last weekend.
As if their lowly league position wasn’t troublesome enough, Inzaghi will have to do without crucial trio Jovane Cabral, Mamadou Coulibaly and Boulaye Dia, who have all left to represent their respective countries at the Africa Cup of Nations, with all three featuring in their latest SA home match as Salernitana surprisingly held AC Milan to a 2-2 draw. Draws won’t be enough to pull Salernitana out of the relegation mire, but considering only Empoli have picked up fewer than their seven SA points on their own patch this season (W1, D4, L4), turning stalemates into wins seems unlikely.
Juventus’ thumping Coppa Italia win on Thursday made it 14 games unbeaten for the Old Lady in all competitions (W11, D3). They defeated top-four hopefuls Roma in their last league outing, meaning Massimiliano Allegri is now the manager with the most 1-0 victories in SA history (76), overtaking Carlo Ancelotti in the three-points-for-a-win era.
Starting this round only two points behind table-topping Inter Milan, Juventus’s defence can shoulder most of the praise for their success, as their 20 league clean sheets during 2023 was the third-most across the traditional top-five European leagues. The travelling faithful can’t take anything for granted though, as Juventus have conceded on their last three away trips (W2, D1).
Players to watch: Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi has opened the scoring with each of his three goals for Salernitana, including a first-minute strike in Thursday’s H2H. Adrien Rabiot proved decisive once again for Juventus as he netted the winner against Roma, contributing to three goals in his last four SA appearances (G2, A1). He’s known for ill-discipline in this fixture though, collecting a yellow card in his last two SA H2Hs.
Hot stat: Juventus have opened the scoring in 15 of their 18 SA matches so far this term (W13, D2).
