Juventus player ratings vs Lazio: Juve impresses in 4-3-3

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TURIN, ITALY – AUGUST 25: Blaise Matuidi of Juventus competes for the ball with Adam Marusic of SS Lazio during the serie A match between Juventus and SS Lazio on August 25, 2018 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) /

CM: Blaise Matuidi 9/10

Blaise Matuidi was everything I was hoping for when I called for him to start today. Matuidi starting in a box-to-box role allowed Miralem Pjanic to play as a deep-lying midfielder and focus more on creating offense than shielding the defense.

Matuidi’s 7 tackles and 2 interceptions kept a Lazio defense that led the league in scoring last year at bay throughout the game. Matuidi’s impressive effort tonight kept Juve in control of the midfield. If Juve sticks to a 4-3-3 Matuidi can fill a N’Golo Kante role for Juve and make the defense more impenetrable than ever.

CM: Miralem Pjanic 8/10

Miralem Pjanic put on an impressive performance today. The presence of Matuidi alleviated some of Pjanic’s defensive duties and allowed him more freedom in attack. Pjanic took advantage early in the game and supplied Juve with the opening goal on a perfect volley in the 30th minute.

He also used the freedom afforded him to supply 2 key passes. The only mark against his performance was an awful back pass that handed Lazio a good chance at goal. Overall, Pjanic had a big impact on this game for Juve.

CM: Sami Khedira 6.5/10

Sami Khedira wasn’t quite able to provide the impact he did last weekend. He made 2 tackles, one interception, and added a clearance, but didn’t really make a difference in the attack. With Matuidi in the lineup Khedira has more freedom to make forward runs, but wasn’t able to convert them into anything this week. He was a slight positive for Juve and they should stick with this midfield.

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