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

By John Vaccaro

Paulo Dybala, Juventus (Photo by Federico Tardito/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting via Getty Images)
Paulo Dybala, Juventus (Photo by Federico Tardito/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Cheng Tingting via Getty Images) /
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TURIN, ITALY – DECEMBER 01: Leonardo Bonucci of Juventus scores goal during the Serie A match between Juventus and US Sassuolo at Allianz Stadium on December 1, 2019 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Chris Ricco/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY – DECEMBER 01: Leonardo Bonucci of Juventus scores goal during the Serie A match between Juventus and US Sassuolo at Allianz Stadium on December 1, 2019 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Chris Ricco/Getty Images) /

LB: Alex Sandro

Alex Sandro hasn’t always been great this season, but he is Juve’s best left back. Mattia De Sciglio has performed admirably when he has been asked to fill in for Sandro, but he doesn’t have the same ceiling that Sandro does. Hopefully he’ll be better utilized in the second half of the season as Sarri has had a couple of weeks to instill his style of play in this team during the break.

CB: Leonardo Bonucci

This pick shouldn’t be a surprise at all. Leonardo Bonucci has been Juve’s most consistent defender and has been an absolutely dominant presence at the back all season. The version of Bonucci we are getting this year is what Juve was hoping for when they brought him back last summer. Let’s hope he can keep this going in 2020.

CB: Matthijs de Ligt

Deciding who will start alongside Leonardo Bonucci became a lot more difficult in December. After being completely neglected for the first few months of the season, Merih Demiral finally got a chance in the starting lineup last month and made it count. Now he is fighting with Matthijs de Ligt for playing time, but I think de Ligt will be the one who got the nod to open the new year. Things haven’t always gone smoothly for de Ligt, but we’ve seen what he can bring to the table during his time with Ajax last season and in flashes this season. He’s had some time now to adjust to Juve’s defensive scheme, so we should see him at his best the rest of the season.

RB: Danilo

As usual, picking a right back for Juve was a tough call. Juan Cuadrado had been the best player at this position early on, but he hasn’t been great lately. Danilo was supposed to take over this spot when Juve signed him, but he hasn’t really impressed since his goal in his debut. Mattia De Sciglio has defended well at times this season, but isn’t as skilled as the other two. For the first match of the new year, I think Danilo will get the nod as Juve hopes to get something out of him after swapping him for Joao Cancelo. Hopefully he can show us something new in the second half of the season.

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