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Predicted Juventus lineup vs Roma: Ronaldo looks to build off first Serie A hat trick

By John Vaccaro

ALLIANZ STADIUM, TORINO, ITALY - 2020/01/06: Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus FC celebrate after scoring a goal during the Serie A match between Juventus Fc and Cagliari Calcio. Juventus Fc wins 4-0 over Cagliari Calcio. (Photo by Marco Canoniero/LightRocket via Getty Images)
ALLIANZ STADIUM, TORINO, ITALY - 2020/01/06: Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus FC celebrate after scoring a goal during the Serie A match between Juventus Fc and Cagliari Calcio. Juventus Fc wins 4-0 over Cagliari Calcio. (Photo by Marco Canoniero/LightRocket 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

I’m still waiting for Alex Sandro to step up. He’s played well on the defensive end, but Juve plays a lot of games where Sandro just doesn’t have to do very much on defense. What Juve really needs out of him now is more of an attacking impact. One of the biggest things this team is lacking is attacking width. If Sandro can’t provided that then Juve might be in the market for their next left back by the time this summer rolls around.

CB: Leonardo Bonucci

We always know who one of Juve’s two center backs is going to be. Maurizio Sarri has it made it clear that Leonardo Bonucci will start every match he possibly can (expect that one against Bayer Leverkusen that didn’t matter). Even getting rest for one match hasn’t been an option. I can see why Sarri would feel this way. Bonucci has been the team’s best defender and has stepped right into a leadership role in Giorgio Chiellini’s absence. Hopefully he can keep this high level of play against Roma on Sunday.

CB: Merih Demiral

I guess there’s no mystery here anymore. Now that Sarri has come out and said that Juve is going to rest Matthijs de Ligt until his shoulder is back to 100%, we know who will be starting alongside Leonardo Bonucci. Merih Demiral has earned this start with a month of great performances and it is refreshing to see Juve once again have options when they have defensive injury issues (unlike last year when Martin Caceres had to start). I look forward to continuing to watch Demiral and seeing how Juve eventually handles this starting spot once they get de Ligt back. It should be an entertaining battle for the starting job between Juve’s two center backs of the future.

RB: Juan Cuadrado

It looks like Juan Cuadrado has officially won the starting right back job. He has certainly earned it by outplaying Danilo and Mattia De Sciglio, but it has been hard to tell if Maurizio Sarri shares that opinion because the other two have struggled to stay healthy all year. Juve could use more attacking involvement from their full backs and Juan Cuadrado is definitely the right fit for that need. He could still get some competition from the other 2, but Sarri starting Cuadrado in the first match of the new year (and I believe the 2nd) seems like a pretty strong endorsement.

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