Juventus make the visit to Old Trafford on Tuesday night to tackle Manchester United in their third game of the Champions League group stage. Their encounter also marks the return of former United star Cristiano Ronaldo to the Theatre of Dreams for only the second occasion since leaving the club nine years ago.
The Bianconeri are presently topping Group H with six points from the opening two matches and they have the opportunity to make a significant stride towards the knockouts with a victory over United on the road. Juventus recently saw a 10-match winning run cease after a 1-1 home draw against Genoa in the Serie A.
Formation: 4-3-3
Predicted Lineup:
Wojciech Szczesny has been the first-choice for the Bianconeri in both the league and European games this term and he should reclaim his position between the sticks on his return to English soil.
In the defence, Joao Cancelo and Alex Sandro should keep their positions on the right and left side of the backline from the weekend but we are anticipating one change in the central defensive department.
Mehdi Benatia had featured during the recent stalemate against Genoa but he should make way for skipper Giorgio Chiellini to partner Leonardo Bonucci at the heart of the backline.
Onto the midfield, Max Allegri does not have many choices on hand after leaving out German duo Sami Khedira and Emre Can for the trip due to a thigh injury and thyroid operation respectively.
In this case, the midfield should remain the same from the weekend with Miralem Pjanic playing centrally with Blaise Matuidi and Rodrigo Bentancur just ahead of him in a three-man partnership.
Upfront, Cristiano Ronaldo should lead the line with Mario Mandzukic sidelined with an ankle problem and he may be flanked by Douglas Costa and Paulo Dybala on either side of the field.
Both Costa and Dybala only featured off the bench against Genoa and they should be fresh for the Manchester trip. In Ronaldo’s absence, Dybala excelled last time around with a hat-trick in the 3-0 triumph at Young Boys.
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