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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’ 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) /

LB: Alex Sandro

Sunday wasn’t the greatest day of Alex Sandro’s career by any metric. However, it’s not going to cost him his starting job. He is still as good as it gets for Juve at left back and they don’t need to worry about resting him because they are only a few weeks away from a stretch of matches that includes Hellas Verona, SPAL, and Brescia. Mattia De Sciglio should get the opportunity to fill in for hi min one of those matches, so expect to see Sandro continue to disappoint on the attacking end of the field on Wednesday.

CB: Matthijs de Ligt

With Merih Demiral suffering a knee injury on Sunday, there is no doubt who will be starting at center back on Wednesday. This had become more difficult in recent weeks as Demiral took advantage of his sudden increase in playing time, but now it will be Matthijs de Ligt once again getting all of the minutes he can handle. He has been playing better than the media would leave you to believe, so hopefully he can keep that up until Giorgio Chiellini returns and silence his doubters.

CB: Leonardo Bonucci

No surprises here. Leonardo Bonucci has been unbelievably consistent for Juve this season, taking over as their best defender and their captain,. They have nothing to worry about with Bonucci this season and that’s why we can definitely expect him to get the start in this match. De Ligt might still have a little bit of rust to knock off after resting his shoulder for a while, so Bonucci should provide the dependable presence beside him that will keep this Juve defense strong against a not too imposing Udinese attack.

RB: Danilo

Danilo hasn’t quite been the player Juve was hoping for when they acquired him in the deal that sent Joao Cancelo to Manchester City, but it looks like that might not stop him from taking over as the starting right back. Juan Cuadrado seemingly relinquished that role over the weekend when Juve had to sub Danilo in at right back because Cuadrado had become the weak link in Juve’s defense that Roma was trying to exploit. Danilo needs to step up in this role because Juve’s right back play could end up being something that holds them back as they pursue multiple trophies.

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