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Predicted Juventus lineup vs Lazio: Juve can extend Serie A lead to double digits

By John Vaccaro

ALLIANZ STADIUM, TORINO, ITALY - 2019/01/21: Players of Juventus FC celebrate at the end of the Serie A football match between Juventus Fc and Ac Chievo Verona.Juventus Fc wins 3-0 over Ac Chievo Verona. (Photo by Marco Canoniero/LightRocket via Getty Images)
ALLIANZ STADIUM, TORINO, ITALY - 2019/01/21: Players of Juventus FC celebrate at the end of the Serie A football match between Juventus Fc and Ac Chievo Verona.Juventus Fc wins 3-0 over Ac Chievo Verona. (Photo by Marco Canoniero/LightRocket via Getty Images) /
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Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus scores second goal during the Serie A match between Fiorentina and Juventus at Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy on 1 December 2018. (Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus scores second goal during the Serie A match between Fiorentina and Juventus at Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy on 1 December 2018. (Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /

CB: Leonardo Bonucci

It looks like Leonardo Bonucci’s subpar first half of the year was enough for him to win the battle for this starting spot as Juventus has agreed to sell Medhi Benatia to Al Duhail. With Benatia gone, the only competition Bonucci will have for this spot is Daniele Rugani until Martin Caceres is ready to join the rotation. There isn’t much of a chance that Massimiliano Allegri will trust Rugani against a top 6 side, so it’s just about guaranteed Bonucci will get this spot against Lazio. Juve will be hoping that his defensive performances improve in the second half of the season, otherwise losing Benatia could prove disastrous. Bonucci is currently responsible for half of the goals Juventus has allowed throughout the season. That’s not the type of performance that should inspire confidence in Juve fans as the team heads into the most important part of the season. Hopefully he’ll start to play better against Lazio.

CB: Giorgio Chiellini

With Medhi Benatia now gone this is absolutely not the time to rest Giorgio Chiellini. I know that Juve has tried to be careful with Chiellini this season to keep him healthy, but Juve has a chance to take a commanding lead in Serie A that will allow him to rest later in the year. Juve has a match next weekend against an anemic Parma attack that has been outscored by all but 6 teams in Serie A this season and then a match against 19th place Frosinone. If Chiellini needs to be rested then those are the matches he should miss. Juve will need to be at their best against Lazio to claim all three points and that means Chiellini needs to start.

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