Football Italia
·22. Dezember 2024
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·22. Dezember 2024
Juventus desperately need to end their draw addiction amid an injury crisis, as Dusan Vlahovic, Nico Gonzalez and Kenan Yildiz start against troubled Monza.
It kicks off at the U-Power Stadium at 19.45 GMT.
The Bianconeri are unbeaten in Serie A this season, but that doesn’t help when they have drawn more games than they’ve won and are sliding down the table.
Juventus have struggled with an injury crisis and while Nico Gonzalez has returned, they lost Danilo to an ankle sprain, along with Timothy Weah’s thigh strain.
Douglas Luiz, Arkadiusz Milik, Gleison Bremer and Juan Cabal are still out of action too, with Andrea Cambiaso only fit for the bench, so Weston McKennie again has to be a makeshift left-back.
With that in mind, Nico Gonzalez starts in an unusual new role as trequartista flanked by Francisco Conceicao and Kenan Yildiz behind Vlahovic, dropping Teun Koopmeiners into midfield.
Monza’s Italian coach Alessandro Nesta arrives prior to the Italian Serie A football match between AC Monza and Inter Milan at the Brianteo stadium in Monza, on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Gabriel BOUYS / AFP) (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
Monza are not doing any better when it comes to the absentee list, especially with star man Daniel Maldini suspended.
Milan Djuric, Matteo Pessina, Roberto Gagliardini, Alessio Cragno, Andrea Petagna, Samuele Vignato and Mattia Valoti are all out of action.
Alessandro Nesta’s men have just one win all season, 3-0 away to Verona, and if they don’t get a victory today will go into Christmas in last place.
They seem to have moved to a 4-4-2 formation.
Monza: Turati; Birindelli, D’Ambrosio, Pablo Marì, Carboni; Pedro Pereira, Bianco, Bondo, Kyriakopoulos; Caprari, Mota
Juventus: Di Gregorio; Savona, Gatti, Kalulu, McKennie; Koopmeiners, Locatelli; Conceicao, Gonzalez, Yildiz; Vlahovic