Como vs Juventus Prediction: Paz to pitch in again at Guiseppe Sinigaglia

Serie A's Friday night game comes from the Stadio Guiseppe Sinigaglia this week as relegation candidates Como (15th) host a Juventus side (fifth) battling to finish in the Uefa Champions League spots. Draws have held the Old Lady back under Thiago Motta but a 4-1 thrashing of Empoli last Sunday has lifted spirits ahead of a trip to Lombardy where Como, led by Cesc Fabregas, lay in wait. Friday's hosts were enjoying a decent run of form but last Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Bologna was their third loss in four games, leaving them just two points above the drop zone.

Below is my Como vs Juventus prediction, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this 19:45 kick-off.

Team News

Como were busy in the last week of the winter transfer window, signing Jonathan Ikone (Fiorentina), Alex Valle (Barcelona), Ivan Azon (Real Zaragoza), Ivan Smolcic (Rijeka), Anastasios Douvikas (Celta Vigo) and Mergim Vojvoda (Torino) to add to the earlier captures of Dele (Everton), Maxence Caqueret (Lyon) and Assane Diao.

Caqueret and Diao are already established in Fabregas' starting XI while Ikone and Valle made their debuts in last Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Bologna.

Azon, Smolcic and Douvikas will all be hoping for their first minutes in a Como shirt on Friday, but the game will come too soon for Dele, who is continuing to build up his fitness, and Vojvoda (muscle).

Sergi Roberto, Alberto Moreno, Alessandro Gabrielloni, Marc Oliver Kempf and Ignace Van der Brempt (all unspecified) remain in the Como treatment room, while Alieu Fadera serves a one-game suspension for the red card he received last weekend.

Ben Cone (Frosinone), Marco Sala (Lecce), Emil Audero (Palermo), Simone Verdi, Lucas Mazzitelli (both Sassuolo), Andrea Belotti (Benfica) were among those allowed to leave on loan in the past month.

Football Odds

Arkadiusz Milik, Bremer, Juan Cabal (all knee) and Pierre Kalulu (thigh) are all ruled out for Juventus on Friday, while Andrea Cambiaso (ankle) is a doubt after missing the Old Lady's last two games.

Renato Veiga joined on loan from Chelsea last week and made his debut at the heart of defence in Juve's 4-1 win over Empoli. He could be joined in the backline by another new loanee from the Premier League, Newcastle United's Lloyd Kelly, who could fill in at left-back with Cabal and potentially Cambiaso both out.

Randal Kolo Muani was the club's first loan signing of the winter transfer window from Paris Saint-Germain and he's made a fast start to life in Italy, netting at Napoli on his debut before bagging a brace in his second game against Empoli. The Frenchman should lead the line again on Friday ahead of Dusan Vlahovic, who came off the bench to score last Sunday.

Nicolo Fagioli (Fiorentina), Arthur Melo (Girona) and Danilo (Flamengo) were among those who recently exited the Turin club, the first two on loan.

Como vs Juventus Odds

Juventus won the reverse fixture 3-0 at Allianz Stadium back on matchday one in August and are 21/20 to do the double over I Lariani, who are 11/4, or a 26.7% chance, to claim a first-ever success over the Italian giants.

Juve have drawn 56.5 per cent (13) of their 23 league games this season and it's 23/10 for Thiago Motta's side to rack up a 14th on Friday.

Vlahovic (8/5) and Kolo Muani (21/10) are first up in the anytime goalscorer market, with ex-Milan man Patrick Cutrone (11/4) considered the hosts' most likely goalscorer.

Both Teams to Score - Yes @ 10/11

Juve have kept 11 clean sheets in Serie A this season, second only to league leaders Napoli (12), but 10 of those came in their first 13 games as they started the campaign with six shutouts in as many matches. Since then, the Old Lady have been breached in all but one of their 10 top-flight outings, conceding 13 times, and haven't kept a clean sheet on their travels since November 23.

Como, meanwhile, were kept from scoring last time out at Bologna, but they were reduced to 10 men inside 38 minutes at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara and had found the net in eight of their previous nine games, including their last five, only failing to fire at the home of reigning champions Inter Milan on December 23.

I Lariani have problems in defence as they have shipped 38 goals in 23 matches, with only three clubs conceding more in the division, but their tally of 27 goals scored is more than eight other sides and at the Guiseppe Sinigaglia, only Fiorentina have kept them quiet, and that was back on November 24.

Both teams to score has been a winner in nine of Juve's last 10 league games, and six of Como's last 10.

Anytime Goalscorer - Nico Paz (COM) @ 18/5

Nico Paz has been the standout star of Como's season so far, scoring five times and registering three assists in 21 Serie A appearances since signing from Real Madrid last summer.

The 20-year-old hasn't just been racking up the G/A's, though - he's also been a delight to watch, with his silky skills in games often clipped up on social media afterward.

Four of Paz's goals have come since December 15 - in just seven outings. Crucially, he's scored in Como's last four matches at the Guiseppe Sinigaglia, and he's a great price to make it five on Friday.

Offers

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