Juventus vs Lazio Prediction: Another stale encounter for the Old Lady

This weekend, the big Saturday night (19:45) game in Serie A takes place at the Allianz Stadium, as Juventus and Lazio clash in Turin. Both sides are level on 13 points heading into this one, setting up a fascinating contest between the Old Lady and the Eagles.

Read below for my Juventus vs Lazio prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Juventus have a lengthy injury list with Bremer, Nicolas Gonzalez, Teun Koopmeiners and Arkadiusz Milik all ruled out of Saturday's game, while Weston McKennie and Nicolo Fagiolo are both doubts.

Timothy Weah is expected to be back in contention following a three-game absence, but Francisco Conceicao is suspended following his red card in Juve's 1-1 draw with Cagliari last time out, so Kenan Yildiz is likely to be restored to the starting XI in place of the Portugal international.

Paul Pogba's doping ban was reduced earlier this week but the Frenchman won't be available for selection until March.

Douglas Luiz has endured a difficult start to life in Turin following his big-money summer move from Aston Villa, but the Brazilian could start on Saturday with Koopmeiners out.

Football Odds

Lazio only have Manuel Lazzari as a confirmed absentee this weekend, with hopes that Matteo Guendouzi will be able to overcome a bruised toe suffered on international duty with France.

It will be interesting to see if head coach Marco Baroni makes changes to his lineup for the trip to Turin, with Boulaye Dia perhaps most at risk of dropping out if the Italian decides to adopt a more pragmatic approach and add another midfielder like Gaetano Castrovilli.

Pedro is also pushing for a start after scoring in his last two appearances, the latest being an 84th-minute off the bench in a 2-1 win over Empoli. Gustav Isaksen could make way for Pedro if Baroni rewards the Spaniard for his good form.

Juventus vs Lazio Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Juventus vs Lazio page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Juventus are 21/20 to bounce back from their stalemate with Cagliari and beat Lazio, giving the hosts an implied win probability of 48.8%, while the visitors are 11/4, or a 26.7% chance, to make it back-to-back away victories in Serie A. The draw, meanwhile, is available at 9/4.

Both teams to score, which has landed in three of the past five meetings between these sides, is priced at 10/11, and over 2.5 total goals is 6/5.

Dusan Vlahovic, who didn't join up with the Serbia national team during the international break owing to a personal matter, is 7/4 favourite to score anytime, and 9/2 to strike first. Valentin Castellanos, who saw a penalty saved in Lazio's last game, is 11/4 and 7/1 in the respective markets.

Match Result - Draw @ 9/4

Thiago Motta has experienced mixed results since taking over as Juventus head coach in the summer. On the one hand, the former Bologna boss has the Old Lady unbeaten in Serie A after seven games, conceding just one goal - and that was a penalty from Calgiari's Razvan Marin in the 88th minute of their last game before the international break.

Before that game, Juve had kept six clean sheets in a row in the league, and all three of their wins in the competition have been 3-0 wins (Como, Verona, Genoa).

However, while they are only three points behind leaders Napoli and one back from reigning champions Inter Milan, there has to be some disappointment about drawing four of their first seven games, especially away to Empoli (0-0) and at home to Cagliari (1-1).

They've also failed two big-match auditions at home, being held to a goalless draw at the Allianz Stadium by AS Roma and Napoli. Motta could do with a high-profile victory in Serie A to really get the show up and running in Turin, ideally this weekend against Lazio.

However, after an uncertain start to Baroni's reign that saw them lose two of their first five matches, Lazio are now on a four-game winning run which has included Serie A victories away to Torino (2-3) and at home to Empoli (2-1).

The Eagles have only experienced one stalemate this season, drawing 2-2 with AC Milan at the Stadio Olimpico, but their first two away matches were narrow 2-1 defeats to Udinese and Fiorentina, with the latter only settled by a 90th-minute Albert Gudmundsson spot-kick.

Those remain Lazio's only defeats of the campaign so far, pointing to a team that is difficult to get the better of.

Juve have drawn three of their first four games at home and have been held to goalless draws in their two biggest games, so with a considerable injury list to boot, it may be worth backing a draw here.

Bet Builder - Kenan Yildiz (JUV) 1+ Shots, Nuno Tavares (LAZ) 1+ Shots, Mattia Zaccagni (LAZ) 1+ Shots on Target @ 14/5

First up in this three-legged bet builder is Juventus winger Yildiz, who I'm backing to take at least one shot. The Turkey international didn't start against Cagliari but is likely to be restored to the starting XI on Saturday with Conceicao suspended and Koopmeiners injured.

Yildiz began the first four league games of the season and registered attempts against each of Roma (two), Empoli (one), Napoli (two) and Genoa (one), only blanking as a substitute at home to Cagliari, meaning he is averaging 1.4 shots per game in the competition.

The 19-year-old has magic in his boots, as evidenced by his wondrous strike in the Uefa Champions League against PSV last month, and he should be getting at least one shot off on Saturday.

Like Yildiz, I'm tipping Lazio's flying left-back, Nuno Tavares, to muster at least one effort at the Allianz Stadium. The Arsenal loanee has made a terrific start to life in Rome, registering five Serie A assists in as many games, while he hasn't been shy to shoot himself, despite failing to score.

The 24-year-old is averaging 1.8 shots per game in the competition after shooting three times at home to Verona, four times away to Fiorentina, and twice at Torino (he didn't register an attempt against AC Milan or Empoli).

The opposition's left-back has had a shot in Juve's last two matches - against RB Leipzig (David Raum) and Cagliari (Adam Obert) - and in the latter, Obert hit the post.

Tavares is an adventurous full-back and I think he will cause problems for the Old Lady this weekend.

My third and final pick is for Lazio winger Mattia Zaccagni to record a shot on target in Turin.

The 29-year-old has scored twice already in Serie A this term, including one in the win over Empoli last time out, and is averaging 2.1 shots per game in Italy's top flight.

Zaccagni has been pretty accurate with his shots, too, averaging 0.9 shots on target per game; in fact, the Italy international has only failed to hit the target against Torino, so looks a good shout to direct one goalwards on Saturday.

Offers

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