The 2020/21 Italian Serie A season begins this weekend and there are some tremendous games to enjoy. One of which takes place at the Allianz Stadium on the 20th of September between Juventus and Sampdoria.
The hosts are the defending champions while the visitors will be hoping to improve on their 15th place finish from the previous campaign.
You only have to go back to the 8th of August to find the last time Juventus played in a competitive match. They came up against Lyon in the Champions League and despite winning the game 2-1 at home, the result ended their interest in the competition having lost the away leg 1-0 in France. It was a disappointing end to the season for the Italian champions and they will be looking to make a statement by recording a big win in this game.
Juventus stuttered towards the end of their Serie A campaign last season, losing 3 of their last 4 matches. However, their overall record in the competition is fantastic and Juventus are undefeated in 18 of their last 19 home matches in Serie A. They have won 16 of those 19 games and have managed to win 8 of their last 12 by 2 or more goals on home soil.
Trend show Juventus FC have scored at least one goal in their last 19 consecutive home games in Serie A plus they have scored 2 or more goals in 12 of their last 15 league matches.
Sampdoria finished 7 points clear of the relegation zone last season. Fortunately, they managed to pick up the victories required to avoid the drop before the run of 4 consecutive games without a win at the end of the 2019/20 season. Sampdoria lost 3 of those 4 matches, with the defeats coming at Juventus and home against Genoa in the derby and AC Milan.
However, Sampdoria were not easy to beat away from home towards the end of last season and lost one of their last 4 league games on the road. In their 17 most recent Serie A games, Sampdoria have seen 14 with over 2.5 goals scored and that includes 3 of their last 4 away from home.
You must go back to 2013 to find the last time Sampdoria defeated Juventus away from home in Serie A.
Team news and Juventus are set to be without the injured trio of Federico Bernardeschi, Matthijs de Ligt and Paulo Dybala. Weston McKennie and Arthur will be hoping to make their competitive debut for the club.
Sampdoria will be without Kristoffer Askildsen who is suspended plus the injured Felice D'Amico. Lorenzo Tonelli and Mikkel Damsgaard and among those who could make their first start for the visitors.
Getting set for #JuveSamp! 💪🏃♂️#ForzaJuve— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) September 16, 2020
Getting set for #JuveSamp! 💪🏃♂️#ForzaJuve
Juventus are the clear favourites to take maximum points in this game and it may simply be a case of predicting the margin of victory. It would come as no surprise to see the hosts score at least 3 goals in this match and get their title defence off to a good start.