Predicted Juventus lineup vs Cagliari: Juve looks for strong start to new decade

Juventus ended 2019 on a sour note, but they can get off to a strong start in 2020 if they can beat Cagliari.

Juventus finished strong in Serie A in 2019, beating Sampdoria and Udinese in their last two matches of the year, but the Supercoppa Italiana put a damper on their success. They lost 3-1 against Lazio for the second time in December, missing out on the chance to win their first trophy of the season. Still, there is plenty to be positive about coming into the new year, as Juve remains at the top of Serie A.

Cagliari had a much worse ending to the decade. They surprisingly found themselves in 4th place in Serie A in December, but lost their spot by dropping points in each of their last 3 matches of 2019. Those matches included a draw against Sassuolo and back to back losses to Lazio and Udinese to close out the year. Now they find themselves in 6th and needing to turn things around if they hope to continue competing for a Champions League place.

Juventus will have most of their squad available for this match, but their Supercoppa loss did have one more consequence. It cost them Rodrigo Bentancur for the match against Cagliari (and the next two after it). They will continue to use their 4-3-1-2 formation as usual.

GK: Wojciech Szczesny

Wojciech Szczesny was once again let down by his teammates his last time out, but we can expect to see him in goal for Juve to start the decade. He has continued to play well for Juve this season, even if his clean sheet numbers aren’t as impressive as last year. He gives Juve their best chance to win and should be in the starting lineup for the next few matches until Gianluigi Buffon fittingly breaks the Serie A appearance record against Parma.