Juventus vs. Sassuolo: Team News, Predicted Line-Ups, Live Stream & TV Info | News, Scores, Highligh

After three significant fixtures, Monday sees Juventus return to a more mundane league encounter with Sassuolo. Having enjoyed a mixed set of results in those previous outings, the Bianconeri will hope to make the match a routine win as they close in on a fourth consecutive domestic crown.

Beating Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and then holding Serie A title rivals AS Roma to a draw clearly drained Massimiliano Allegri’s players. Their performance in Thursday’s Coppa Italia loss to Fiorentina clearly reflected that as, despite heavy rotation, the Turin giants were nowhere near their effervescent best.

That result—and the reasons for it—were analysed in detail here, and Juve will take comfort in knowing they have April’s second leg in which to turn the tie around. Now, however, they take on Eusebio Di Francesco’s Sassuolo, a team currently sitting in 12th place and possessing a trio of talented attacking players.

The Bianconeri are well aware of the need to continue winning despite their lead at the top of the table, a point made clear by Carlos Tevez when he spoke to Sky Italia this past weekend. Looking ahead to the meeting with the Neroverde, the Argentinian striker said (h/t Football Italia):

I don’t think this is a difficult time for us, we just need to step up the tempo a little and finish games off earlier. No matter what some people say, nine points isn’t enough of an advantage over Roma to relax.

We have to speed up and get the Scudetto under lock and key as soon as possible.

That approach is precisely what the home side will need on Monday night as they look to make amends for the draw they recorded the last time these two sides met.

Date: Monday, March 9

Time: 21:00. CET (8 p.m. GMT / 4 p.m. EDT)

Venue: Juventus Stadium, Turin

TV Info: beINSports (U.S.), BT Sport (UK)

Live Stream: beIN Sports CONNECT (U.S.)

Form Lines

Last five domestic results:

Predicted Line-ups

Sassuolo (4-3-3): Consigli; Vrsaljko, Acerbi, Peluso; Longhi, Brighi, Magnanelli; Berardi, Zaza, Sansone.

Player to Watch

Perhaps the man to monitor in this game is Sassuolo’s Simone Zaza, formerly co-owned by Juventus and constantly linked with a move to Turin. The Bianconeri retain an option to sign the player outright, a fact confirmed by his agent, Christian Maifredi, back in January, reported by Tuttomercatoweb (h/t Football Italia), and one the 23-year-old demonstrated he is fully aware of as he discussed the game at a press conference this weekend.

“It is well known that I am a player Juve are tracking, so obviously many people will watch the game—and me—in a certain way,” the striker said, per Football Italia. Zaza, who goes into the game having gone three matches without finding the back of the net, added that he "is not afraid of the challenge."

His side have suffered as a result, scoring just once as they lost to Fiorentina, Napoli and Sassuolo, losing the momentum gained from beating Inter at the beginning of February. With eight goals to his name, Zaza is Sassuolo’s leading scorer, and they will need him to return to form if they are to enjoy any success in this encounter.

Key Battle

While the scoring threat of Zaza should not be underestimated, the key matchup in this game could well come on the wing. Having joined a number of his team-mates in sitting out the Fiorentina loss, Patrice Evra is likely to return to the Juventus line-up and face a tough challenge in the form of Domenico Berardi.

Co-owned by the Bianconeri, the 20-year-old winger has enjoyed another excellent season, recording seven goals and six assists in 2014-15 thus far. His deadly left foot is a dangerous weapon at set pieces, while his speed also frightens defences, and Mohamed Salah’s performance on Thursday highlighted the weakness Juventus have in that regard.

Evra is an experienced campaigner, however, and his ability to control Berardi could well decide the outcome of this clash.

Home win: 1/5

Away win: 12/1

Draw: 11/2

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