Genoa vs Juventus Prediction: Juve shutout to continue at empty Marassi

Juventus have been flawless but flawed so far in Serie A, and on Saturday they take on Genoa at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in a game which could send them top of the table (kick-off 17:00 BST, 18:00 local).

The Marassi’s gates will be closed for this one due to the trouble which took place at the local derby in midweek, so that could have a say in my Genoa vs Juventus predictions.

Team News

Juventus head coach Thiago Motta made the unusual decision to name his entire starting XI in his pre-match press conference, confirming that Douglas Luiz will again miss out.

“It’s easier this week because I trust what I see in training,” he explained as he listed a starting line-up of Mattia Perin, Jonas Rouhi, Gleison Bremer, Pierre Kalulu, Danilo, Nicolo Fagioli, Weston McKennie, Teun Koopmeiners, Kenan Yildiz, Dusan Vlahovic and Nico Gonzalez.

That means there will be four changes from the side which drew 0-0 with Napoli last time out, with Michele Di Gregorio, Andrea Cambiaso, Manuel Locatelli and Nicolo Savona making way for Perin, Rouhi, Danolo and Fagioli.

Genoa were hugely disappointing when going down 2-0 to Venezia last week, with Pierluigi Gollini’s heroics in saving Joel Pohjanpalo’s penalty undone later in the second half when the keeper somehow allowed Gianluca Busio’s cross to travel into the corner of the net.

Then in midweek, the Grifone led for almost 80 minutes in the Coppa Italia derby clash against Sampdoria but conceded a late goal and lost on penalties to their Serie B opponents.

Caleb Ekuban could be missing due to a thigh injury, while David Ankeye came off the bench against Samp in his return from an ankle knock.

Fabio Miretti also got minutes under his belt in the cup exit, but Junior Messias and Ruslan Malinovskyi are both unavailable.

Genoa vs Juventus Odds

Juve are the obvious favourites with the bookies given their unbeaten start to the campaign. The Bianconeri can be backed at 7/10 for the win, with Genoa 9/2 to cause an upset.

The Old Lady have drawn their last three games, all 0-0, and the draw is 5/2.

Juventus to win to nil @ 7/5

This hasn’t been a flying start as such from Juventus, but they have been pretty much untouchable all the same. They have given up a number of chances, not least in the draw with Napoli last weekend as Matteo Politano and Scott McTominay were among those to cause the odd skipped heartbeat.

But when all is said and done, they have been impregnable at the back. They still haven’t conceded in league football this season after five matches, and I just can’t see Genoa being the team to break them down first.

And Juve showed against Napoli after growing into the game that they have threats of their own, despite going a third game without a goal in league play.

I think they get ahead early in this one and keep the Rossoblu at arm’s length. That would probably be the way of things even if they faced a hostile reception at the Marassi. But with fans barred from entering, there won’t be that same disadvantage for the visitors and they should see this one out with a bit to spare.

Football Odds

Juventus over 6.5 corners @ 9/4

In Koopmeiners, Yildiz, Vlahovic et al, Juve have plenty of threats in the final third, and if Genoa are left hanging on there will be plenty of corners given up.

I can see the Bianconeri racking up a fair number of set pieces, and the 9/4 being offered for over 6.5 corners for the away team seems on the generous side to me.

That’s an implied probability of 30.8%, but if these two played each other 10 times, I see Juve charting seven-plus corners in far more than three of those games.

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