Juventus are looking to forget the Coppa Italia woes and the home defeat to Roma when they play host to Udinese, one of the in-form teams at the moment. With Juve desperately needing a victory and Udine having nothing to lose, the odds are we will see a very entertaining game at Olimpico.

Must-win game for Juve

Juventus cannot seem to rediscover the form that served them so well in the first part of the season and they have already recorded three defeats in 2011, which is definitely a cause for alarm. The Bianconeri are now three points behind the Champions League places and any further slip-ups would mark a farewell to the top 4 finish. Juve suffered a new blow in midweek as they lost the Coppa Italia game to Roma, although by fielding a weakened line-up, Luigi Del Neri clearly showed Serie A is the priority this season. Team’s build-up play should be much better with Krasic, Aquilani and Marchisio in the side after the trio was rested against Roma, while it goes without saying that Juve need to attack Udinese from the off. That will leave the back line exposed to such players like Di Natale and Sanchez, so the Old Lady clearly have to score at least two goals if they want to win this game.

Felipe Melo and Vincenzo Iaquinta are back to contention, while Amauri, Motta and Pepe are expected to shake off minor knocks. De Ceglie, Toni, Rinaudo and Traore remain sidelined, whereas new signing Andrea Barzagli is likely to start on the bench.

Can anybody stop Di Natale and Sanchez?

Udinese are widely known as the team that can easily beat even the title contenders on their day and they are fully justifying the reputation this term. Having held Milan to a 4:4 draw at San Siro before beating Genoa and Inter with two goals to spare, the Zebrette can be forgiven for thinking they can defeat Juventus as well. With probably the best attacking duo in the league, Udinese have no options but to play attacking football regardless of the opponent, so I am definitely not surprised by the fact that the Zebrette scored at least two goals in every one of their last seven games. The attacking style of play often leaves them exposed at the back, which is something Juventus will be looking to exploit, but they won’t be too worried by this as long as they can outscore the opponent.

Apart from Dusan Basta and Damien Feronetti, Francesco Guidolin will have full squad to choose from.

Verdict

This game has over 2.5 goals written all over it. Juventus desperately need a win, meaning the Bianconeri are likely to attack the opponents from the off, while Udinese keep scoring as well as conceding goals for fun, so there is no doubt this will be an entertaining match. You might even consider a higher goals margin.

Our prediction: Over 2.5 goals

Odds: 1.88 (7/8)

Bookmaker: Betfair