Juventus projected lineup vs SPAL: Juve reshuffles depleted midfield
By John Vaccaro
LM: Douglas Costa
It seems likely that Douglas Costa will make just his second start since his injury on Saturday. His only other came in an uninspiring appearance against Cagliari at the beginning of the month. While he hasn’t looked particularly impressive in his appearances since returning from injury, Juventus will need to call upon him here.
A lack of central midfielder options has necessitated this formation change and Costa is one of the two options Juve has for this position. The other is Alex Sandro who will likely be started at left back because Juve would feel more comfortable starting Costa in the midfield than letting Leonardo Spinazzola make his first appearance of the season as the starting left back in a rotating lineup.
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This season hasn’t gone quite as well for Costa as Juve fans would’ve hoped coming into the year. Since he signed with Juventus permanently he has yet to score or assist a goal, has been suspended for spitting on Federico Di Francesco, and then was injured later that week.
He’ll get a chance to start turning things around in this match and Juve will need him to take advantage of it to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing Genoa match.
RM: Juan Cuadrado
With Costa starting on the left side and Federico Bernardeschi still struggling with an injury it would seem that Juan Cuadrado is the only option for this starting spot. Cuadrado has been pretty average in his appearances for Juve this season and could be on his way out the door in a couple of months.
Juventus has too many options to play on the right wing, especially since Allegri thinks Paulo Dybala should start there. Cuadrado hasn’t really done anything to separate himself from the pack this season, but Juve is pretty desperate for this match. He’ll get the start in this one, but it could be the last one he gets for a while as Juve’s health improves.