Italian giants Juventus are having one of the poorest starts in Serie A since the inception of the club. The 36-time champions lost to newly-promoted Empoli, then lost to Napoli in the next game. Their only point this year came from a two-all draw against Udinese, in a game where they had a 2-0 lead, but squandered it to lose two points. It's time to continue our soccer preview series by making a some insightful Juventus-AC Milan predictions and more.
It's not the start the Turin-based club was hoping for, especially in a year where they will be looking to return the title back to their stadium.
On the other hand, AC Milan started their campaign perfectly, with nine points in three games and with only one goal conceded. Here are three bold Juventus-AC Milan predictions for the upcoming classic of Italian football.
Juventus-AC Milan Predictions
Juventus will win the game comfortably
Of course, everything said above is true, about the crisis Juventus are experiencing, but this is still a world-class team. Now that Cristiano Ronaldo left, Paulo Dybala will have a ton of space and time to show his real worth. The Argentinian attacker is still an amazing footballer and the return of Max Allegri, a coach that he thrived under, should mean the revival of his career.
In addition to that, Juventus added midfielder Manuel Locatelli, a rising star who showed his ability in the summer with the Italian national team, where he won the EURO's. He was brought in to assume some control in a midfield which was bleeding out for a player of his caliber. After having one of the best midfields in the world in 2015, when Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, and Claudio Marchisio dominated opponents, Juventus is seriously struggling there now. However, Locatelli will be a true enhancement in that area of player for the Turin club.
In addition to all of that, Juventus was not able to fully utilize their marquee signing, Moise Kean. After an unsuccessful spell in Everton, Kean dominated in PSG last season, scoring 17 goals in a bench role for the Parisians. Now, he will be heading the attack with Alvaro Morata, who is still a solid striker. With all the confidence being brought over from the convincing 3-0 win against Malme away from home, Juve might break the streak of poor form and put the rest of the teams in Seria A on alert.
Tiredness and uncertainty will seriously affect Milan
Milan had to travel to England to face Liverpool on Wednesday. Since Liverpool is not exactly Malme, the opponent Juventus faced, there will be more tired legs running on the Allianz Stadium on Sunday from the Rossoneri. It is clear that the Milanese want to come back to their glory days and that means competing in both competitions. While they opened Seria A with the aforementioned three wins, Liverpool in mid-week and then Juventus on the weekend is a very tough stretch.
Also, there is an air of uncertainty around the club. Mostly, it comes from star midfielder Franck Kessie, who is still in heated renewal talks with the club. Kessie was the absolute boss of the Milan midfield last season and it is clear to everyone that this is not the same team without him. Should he not renew, it will be a massive loss for the Rossoneri and one that they will have a hard time going over. Even the uncertainty of his contract right now has the potential to ruin the good run of form the Milanese have had since the start of the season.
Additionally, there is the Zlatan Ibrahimovic situation. He has not been clear about whether he will continue with the club or even football in general after the season ends. Ibra has been an absolute monster for AC Milan and his steady, experienced hand has had an amazing effect on the young Milan roster. He is injured now and most likely will not feature against Juventus, so he will definitely be missed for Milan.
Locatelli will be Man of the Match
Locatelli's name was already mentioned before, but it is worth a prediction just for himself. The Milan midfield is great, with Kessie and Sandro Tonali easily dominating matches, but if anyone has the potential to break them, it is Locatelli. He is surrounded by the youngster Winston McKinnie and somewhat underwhelming Adrien Rabiot, but he can take over the game in a moment and win it on his own.
While all the focus will be on the attacking third of both teams, there are reasons to believe that the midfield battle will win the game. In that case, Locatelli has the ability to completely amaze all neutrals watching and win the game for his new team.
One thing is for sure – Milan and Juventus will be one of the games of the weekend and can be the turnaround Bianconeri need to salvage the season!
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