Spalletti and the Juventus team
Juventus have started the season well and will be looking to bring AC Milan down a peg on Sunday evening, hosting them at Allianz Stadium.
After two games played, Juventus and Milan are near-identical in the league standings. Both have clinched six points so far, while the goal difference is the same at +3. Only the scorelines separate the two, as the Rossoneri have scored four and conceded one, as opposed to just scoring three.
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In any case, it should be an exciting clash between two big teams, with Luciano Spalletti’s men perhaps considered the favourites amid the home-turf advantage. However, the Italian manager is also having to deal with a lot of injuries.
Opposition insight on Juventus
➤ Manager: Luciano Spalletti
➤ Form (all comps): W-W (most recent)
➤ Top scorer (Serie A): Bremer, Koopmeiners, Gonzalez – 1
➤ Most assists (Serie A): Locatelli, Conceicao – 1
➤ Injuries & suspensions: Yildiz, McKennie, Thuram, Cambiaso, Ekhator, Cabal, Pape Matar Sarr.
After the poor results with Igor Tudor, Juventus opted to hire a much more experienced and proven name in Spalletti just nine rounds into the 2025-26 season. It was definitely the right decision as the Bianconeri only lost five games after that.
Had it not been for a defeat and a draw in the final two games, against Fiorentina and Torino, then they would have finished inside the top four. The story is somewhat similar to Milan, as such, even if the Rossoneri’s collapse was much worse.
In any case, Juventus confirmed Spalletti for the current season, taking to the mercato to reinforce his squad. Quite a lot of signings have been brought in, from Randal Kolo Muani to Kerim Alajbegovic, who was also linked with a move to Milan.
Spalletti Juventus
Photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images
Jhon Lucumi and Guglielmo Vicario also deserve a mention, but the biggest positive is arguably that they haven’t parted ways with their key players. Timothy Weah, Dusan Vlahovic and Lois Openda are some of those who have said goodbye, but they have hardly been crucial lately.
The Bianconeri still have the likes of Bremer, Andrea Cambiaso, Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, Kenan Yildiz, and Francesco Conceicao in the squad, not to mention that Nico Gonzalez has returned from his loan at Atletico Madrid and is already impressing.
In short, Juventus have strengthened their squad this summer, as opposed to selling several of their stars to fund new signings. That means Spalletti should have a pretty good chance of building on the success they had last season which, again, almost got them top four.
We mentioned Vicario above, but let’s really focus on the goalkeeping position for a second. One of Juve’s biggest issues in recent seasons has definitely been Michele Di Gregorio’s errors between the sticks. So, replacing him with a keeper as capable as Vicario is a huge boost, as seen in the last game.
Enough about the season as a whole though, what about the current situation? Luckily for Milan, a lot of key players above will actually miss the game due to injury, including Yildiz and McKennie. This was confirmed by Spalletti during his press conference on Saturday.
The head coach also confirmed that the new (loan) signing Woltemade could be used off the bench, even if Kolo Muani will be the sole striker in the starting eleven.
Predicted Juventus XI (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Kalulu, Bremer, Lucumi, Celik; Locatelli, Douglas Luiz; Conceicao, Nico Gonzalez, Boga; Kolo Muani.
Predicted bench: Grabara, Pinsoglio, Kelly, Rugani, Gatti, Koopmeiners, Owusu, Alajbegovic, Milik, Woltemade.
Injuries & suspensions: Yildiz, McKennie, Thuram, Cambiaso, Ekhator, Cabal, Pape Matar Sarr.