Genoa began their Serie A season with a goalless draw and will be hoping their defence stays solid as they face Juventus.
Genoa and Lecce played out a 0-0 draw at Marassi Stadium. It was Genoa’s fourth Serie A match in a row without a win, with one draw and three losses. This result means they have missed the chance to take full advantage of having back-to-back home games. It is unlikely that manager Patrick Vieira will have to wait until January for a home league win like last season, but their poor record at home to teams who finished in the top half last year, with three draws and seven losses, does not inspire much confidence.
Juventus made a strong start to their new Serie A campaign with a 2-0 win over Parma. Dušan Vlahović scored and seemed to win back the support of the fans. With their attacking problems possibly solved, Juventus will now aim to repeat last season’s strong start when they kept clean sheets in their first six league games, winning three and drawing three. Juventus have not lost their first away match of a new season since 2015 and won their last two by a 3-0 scoreline. Last season, they won six of their ten away matches against teams that finished in the bottom half, keeping five clean sheets.
Juventus have kept three clean sheets in a row against Genoa, with two wins and a draw. They have also scored exactly three goals in three of their last five visits to Genoa, winning three, drawing one and losing one. Overall, Juventus have a strong record in this fixture, with 87 wins, 30 draws and 27 losses.
Since the start of last season, Genoa have had 22 Serie A matches level at half-time, the joint most in the league. They also scored only 12 goals in the first half of matches during that time, fewer than any other team.
Ten of Juventus’ last 13 away league games saw both teams score. However, only two of their last ten Serie A matches had more than two goals in total.
Nicolae Stanciu scored for Genoa in the Coppa Italia and four of his last five goals in competitive matches came after half-time. Dušan Vlahović scored the final goal in Juventus’ win last weekend and five of his last six goals came after the 80th minute. He also scored twice in the second half during this fixture last season.
Genoa should have a full squad available. Juventus will be without Andrea Cambiaso who was sent off last weekend.
