Juve face rivals Roma as Super Cup thins Serie A programme

Juventus have another chance to drag themselves back into the Serie A title discussion on Saturday when rivals Roma come to Turin with the other main contenders in Riyadh for the Italian Super Cup.

Seven points behind league leaders Inter Milan, fifth-placed Juve host Roma after last weekend's impressive win at Bologna hinted that Luciano Spalletti is starting to have an impact in Turin.

The Roma game provides another opportunity to show that Juve are back following another turbulent week for Italy's most successful club.

Last week Exor, the Agnelli family's holding company which owns Juve, publicly turned down crypto currency firm Tether's offer to acquire its controlling stake the club.

The Agnellis have owned Juve for more than a century, so that seemed to be it, but Exor has been offloading Italian assets in recent years and Juve have been a money sink since the Covid-19 pandemic, racking up losses of nearly a billion euros without much to show for it on the pitch.

Spalletti is Juve's third manager of the calendar year and is trying to patch up the mistakes made by a whole cast of characters behind the scenes, not to mention his predecessors Thiago Motta and Igor Tudor.

With Teun Koopmeiners suspended and Gleison Bremer not fully fit, Spalletti still has question marks in defence, while Lois Openda is expected to start in attack ahead of Jonathan David.

Roma should be tough opposition as the team with Serie A's tightest defence and – alongside the two Milan clubs – the best away record.

But the capital city outfit, who sit fourth and trail Inter by three points, have an abysmal record at the Allianz Stadium, with just one win since the stadium was inaugurated in 2011.

In that time, Roma have lost 13 times and drawn twice at Juventus.

With Inter, AC Milan, Napoli and Bologna all in Saudi Arabia, crisis club Fiorentina's bid to finally get a win, when they play Udinese on Sunday, is the weekend's other eye-catching fixture.

Fiorentina finished sixth last season under Raffaele Palladino but his departure in the close season, caused by friction with former sporting director Daniele Prade and the club hierarchy, preceded a collapse.

The Viola are bottom of the division with just six points, their worst ever tally after 15 games, and already on their second manager of the season with Paolo Vanoli replacing Stefano Pioli last month.

A crushing late defeat to relegation rivals Verona has even caused speculation about Vanoli's future, with Fiorentina eight points behind Parma, Genoa and Cagliari who all sit just above the drop zone.

"I'm not thinking about my future but what's good for Fiorentina. Everything we do is for the good of Fiorentina, and my future takes a back seat to that," said Vanoli on Wednesday.

Palladino's new team Atalanta, at Genoa on Sunday, might be 12th and 11 points from the Champions League positions but the Bergamo team have improved significantly since turning to their new coach last month.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Kenan Yildiz

Turkey attacker Kenan Yildiz has been Juve's shining light in a disjointed opening few months of the season, and will be hoping to gift his team a festive victory.

With six goals and seven assists in all competitions, the 20-year-old is at the heart of everything Juve do going forward.

Yildiz's pinpoint cross set up Juan Cabal to head Juve's winner at Bologna and he will be key to their bid to break down a Roma defence which has conceded just eight times this term.

KEY STATS

6 - Fiorentina's points tally is their worst ever after 15 games of a season

7 - The points gap separating Juve from table toppers Inter

FIXTURES (times GMT)

Saturday

Lazio v Cremonese (1700), Juventus v Roma (1945)

Sunday

Cagliari v Pisa (1130), Sassuolo v Torino (1400), Fiorentina v Udinese (1700), Genoa v Atalanta (1945)