Predicted Juventus lineup vs Roma: Ronaldo looks to build off first Serie A hat trick
By John Vaccaro
CM: Blaise Matuidi
I don’t like it, but I know it’s coming. Blaise Matuidi is just about guaranteed to be in the starting lineup for Juventus on Sunday. This is in spite of the fact that he has brought very little to the table for Juve this season. He has been a detriment to the attack in just about every match this year. He also hasn’t had as much of a defensive impact as he has in the past, especially against team like Lazio when Juve actually needs his defense. I’m hoping his time in the starting lineup will come to an end soon so we can see how a Rabiot-Pjanic-Bentancur midfield would play together, but I have rarely been on the same page as Sarri this season when it comes to the midfield. Regardless, we’re going to get another pedestrian performance out of Matuidi on Sunday.
CM: Miralem Pjanic
Who is going to start in the center of Juve’s midfield is rarely ever a mystery. It remains quite obviously for Sunday’s match as Miralem Pjanic is going to man this role against his previous club. He is the centerpiece of everything Juve tries to do going forward and is the only real distributor the club has available to them right now. He hasn’t been able to produce the dazzling plays Juve fans were hoping for yet this season, but they should be coming any day now as the squad continues to grow in Sarri’s system.
CM: Adrien Rabiot
It looks like Adrien Rabiot is finally out of the doghouse. Yes, Sami Khedira’s injury and Rodrigo Bentancur’s suspension are helping him get these starts, but he at least remains ahead of Emre Can in the pecking order and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him surpass Blaise Matuidi soon either. He’s shown steady growth recently as his playing time has become more frequent and as he has gotten more comfortable with his new club. Hopefully we see more growth in this match and throughout the rest of the season so we can feel a little bit more confident about Juve’s midfield against Europe’s big dogs later in the season.