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Predicted Juventus lineup vs Torino: Juve shorthanded for Derby della Mole

By John Vaccaro

ALLIANZ STADIUM, TURIN, ITALY - 2018/12/07: Mario Mandzukic of Juventus FC celebrates after scoring the winning goal during the Serie A football match between Juventus FC and FC Internazionale. Juventus FC won 1-0 over FC Internazionale. (Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
ALLIANZ STADIUM, TURIN, ITALY - 2018/12/07: Mario Mandzukic of Juventus FC celebrates after scoring the winning goal during the Serie A football match between Juventus FC and FC Internazionale. Juventus FC won 1-0 over FC Internazionale. (Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images) /
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Rodrigo Bentancur of Juventus in action during the UEFA Champions League match between Juventus and Valencia CF at Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy on November 27, 2018 (Photo by Jose Breton/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Rodrigo Bentancur of Juventus in action during the UEFA Champions League match between Juventus and Valencia CF at Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy on November 27, 2018 (Photo by Jose Breton/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /

CM: Miralem Pjanic

Miralem Pjanic has struggled this season to reach the heights he has in previous years with Juve and that became as clear as ever against Young Boys on Wednesday. Those types of matches have usually been ones where Pjanic has been at his best. He was given plenty of time on the ball and had space to operate in, but was still unable to set his teammates up against a team Juve really should’ve dominated. At some point Pjanic needs to find a way to get things back on track and the match on Saturday would be a good time for that to happen. Having Pjanic at his best would go a long way toward Juve being able to break one of the top 5 defenses in the league down.

CM: Rodrigo Bentancur

Rodrigo Bentancur has done everything in his power to lock down this spot in Juve’s starting lineup. Early in the year it looked like Juve would need to bring in a 3rd midfielder to play alongside Pjanic and Blaise Matuidi, but Bentancur has seemingly made the idea of bringing in another starting midfielder unnecessary. This week hasn’t quite lived up to the fantastic performances Bentancur has put in throughout the year, but he has earned the faith of Massimiliano Allegri and Juve’s fans this season. This will be Bentancur’s first experience in the Derby della Mole and he’ll be hoping to give Juve fans another reason to love him in this match.

CM: Blaise Matuidi

Blaise Matuidi was given the day off on Wednesday and it was a rest that he has absolutely earned. He has been playing nonstop over the last couple of years thanks to France’s World Cup win and Juve’s deep Champions League runs. Juventus has been unable to rest him throughout this season thanks to their lack of midfield depth and Matuidi was becoming fatigued. Now that Matuidi will be fresh he will continue to be a midfield pest for opposing teams. He’ll keep Juve handily in control of possession against Torino.

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