Predicted Juventus lineup vs Roma: Ronaldo looks to dispatch Roma with 3rd team

LW: Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo will be reacquainted with a team he has a bit of history against when he plays against Roma on Saturday. He was a part of two different teams who knocked Roma out of the Champions League, Manchester United in 2008 and Real Madrid in 2016. He also scored once against Roma with United and twice with Real. Now he’ll be looking to make it two matches in a row that he has scored the winner for Juve after his penalty was enough to beat Torino last Saturday. Allegri has stated that Ronaldo would be rested around the holidays and a winning effort against Roma would certainly earn him a day off for Wednesday’s match against Atalanta.

ST: Mario Mandzukic

More from Serie A

• Update on Leonardo Bonucci’s legal action against Juventus
• Romelu Lukaku and the betrayal of Inter Milan
• Report: Piotr Zieliński set to sign a new deal with SSC Napoli
• The man rumored to replace Kim Min-Jae: Who is Napoli target Robin Le Normand?
• Are Napoli finally Scudetto-bound? It sure looks like it

Mario Mandzukic’s hustle made the difference for Juventus yet again in last week’s Derby della Mole. He beat Torino’s keeper to Zaza’s poor back pass and drew the penalty that would deliver the win for Juve. Now he’ll have a great chance to follow that up against Roma’s porous back line. Roma has struggled to defend just about anything this year, including set pieces and crosses, and that should give Mandzukic plenty of chances to score in this match. I’d be surprised if we didn’t see Mandzukic’s name on the scoresheet on Saturday.

RW: Paulo Dybala

I made it pretty clear in my player ratings for the match against Torino that I don’t like it at all when Dybala is selected to start on the wing, but I unfortunately have little doubt that we’ll see it again when Juve takes on Roma. He simply hasn’t been the player we’ve seen in previous seasons when he has been asked to play on the wing this year. He has gone from a player on the rise who scored 22 league goals and assisted 5 more last year to a player who has scored twice with 1 assist in 14 appearances and none of those goals he has played a part in came in a match where he started on the wing.

Something needs to change soon and unfortunately that may mean Juve selling a very talented young player.