Relegation-threatened Palermo will rue the fact they travel to Turin at the time when Juventus are looking to clinch the Serie A title in front of their own fans. That is likely going to make their task of getting something from the game virtually impossible, with full-strength Bianconeri hoping to claim the title in style.

Congratulations are in order

Juventus were somewhat unfortunate to meet mighty Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals, but the 4-0 aggregate defeat doesn’t look so bad now that the Bavarians have put seven past Barcelona. The failure to reach the Coppa Italia final can be considered as the only major disappointment of the season, but that will be forgotten as soon as the Bianconeri clinch their second successive Serie A title. While many are quick to point out that Juve had an easy job to defend the title, I would beg to differ as Napoli, Milan and even Fiorentina have been really impressive this season, but they couldn’t come even close to upsetting Antonio Conte’s side, who have enjoyed one of the most successful league campaigns ever. How else can we explain the fact they have won seven straight games during the season finale, just when Napoli started hoping they would be able to revive their title bid. Having done so well in matches against Italy’s top sides, surely Juventus will be able to defeat struggling Palermo with relative ease in front of the packed and expectant Juventus Arena.

Antonio Conte can field his strongest side as only back-up players Pepe, Isla and Peluso are struggling through injury.

Can Palermo survive after all?

Palermo have been pretty disappointing for most of the current campaign and even if they do seem to have too much quality to go down, they will have nobody else to blame but themselves if they end up suffering relegation to Serie B. The team seem to have caught the last train to survival, having picked up 11 points from last five league fixtures to leave the relegation positions for the first time in a while. Nevertheless, being above the bottom three by virtue of goal difference alone, the Rosanero are still in for a nervy finish to the league campaign. The team do appear to be in a good form at the moment, but matching bottom table sides and beating injury-plagued Inter is not the same as upsetting the best team in the league that are at full strength. Everyone can see that this Palermo side lack the quality to mix it up with the best of them in Serie A and I just don’t see how they are going to spoil the party for their more illustrious opponents. It is not as if the 1-7-9 away record can give them something to hope for ahead of the trip to Turin.

Giuseppe Sannino has no fresh injury worries, but Andrea Mantovani and Michel Morganella miss out through injury and suspension respectively.

Verdict

Buoyed by seven successive victories in the league and the huge support from the stands, Juventus will be looking to put the tie beyond doubt early on and ensure the celebrations can begin. Palermo may be doing well at the moment and their motivation will not be lacking, but it would take a gargantuan effort from the Rosanero to come even close to creating a surprise.

Top pick: Juventus/Juventus   2.20 (6/5) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Juventus to win to nil   2.62 (13/8) @ 888sport

Alternative pick 2: Juventus with -1.25 AH  2.00 (1/1) @ bet365

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