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Predicted Juventus lineup vs Udinese: Matthijs de Ligt reclaims starting spot in Coppa Italia

By John Vaccaro

Juventus' Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt (L) saves a ball on the goal line during the Italian Serie A football match Atalanta Bergamo vs Juventus on November 23, 2019 at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium in Bergamo. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)
Juventus' Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt (L) saves a ball on the goal line during the Italian Serie A football match Atalanta Bergamo vs Juventus on November 23, 2019 at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium in Bergamo. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (1) dives for the ball during the Serie A football match n.12 JUVENTUS – MILAN on November 10, 2019 at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. (Photo by Matteo Bottanelli/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (1) dives for the ball during the Serie A football match n.12 JUVENTUS – MILAN on November 10, 2019 at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. (Photo by Matteo Bottanelli/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /

Juventus got themselves back into first place in Serie A on Sunday, but now they’ll turn their attention toward another competition.

On Wednesday, they’ll be focusing on the Coppa Italia as they welcome Udinese to Torino for the second time in a month. They head into the matchup having won 5 of their last 7 matches, including a 3-1 win over Udinese, with the only two stumbles both coming in 3-1 losses against Udinese. Their current run of form has seen them win their Champions League group and move into first place in Serie A, two points ahead of Inter Milan. This is their first Coppa Italia match of the season.

Udinese has not been quite so successful in this season as a whole, but they have begun to change their fortune. They currently find themselves in 12th place in the league after being not too far from the relegation battle just a month ago. That improvement in the standing was brought on by a 3 match win streak since their loss to Juve that includes a 2-1 win over 6th place Cagliari, a 1-0 win over Lecce, and a 3-0 win over Sassuolo in their most recent match. They’ve already advanced through 2 rounds of the Coppa Italia and a win in this match would give them their best Coppa finish since the 2015-16 season.

Juventus will be more shorthanded than usual for this match. They are still missing Rodrigo Bentancur for another match and Sami Khedira and Giorgio Chiellini remain out for long periods. Now, Merih Demiral has been added to the list because of an ACL injury that will likely keep him out for the rest of the season. In spite of these injuries, they will still be in their 4-3-1-2 formation for Wednesday’s match.

GK: Wojciech Szczesny

Usually, this would be exactly the type of match where Juve would give Wojciech Szczesny the day off and let Gianluigi Buffon. However, this match is a special case because I think Juve has had their next mach picked out for Gianluigi Buffon’s Serie A record-breaking appearance for a little while now. This means that Szczesny should be in the starting lineup against Udinese with a day off coming up over the weekend. That should give Juve a pretty good chance at advancing in this competition.

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