Serie A Preview: Juventus vs Genoa – Team News, Line-ups & Prediction | OneFootball

A new dawn rises at the Allianz Stadium as Juventus take on Udinese in a must-win Serie A fixture on Saturday evening. While most clubs had a quiet March international break, profound changes hit the record-time Italian champions.

Thiago Motta is no longer in charge of the club. Despite joining Juventus after a sterling season at the helm of Bologna last summer, the 42-year-old failed to meet expectations in Turin. With the Bianconeri stranded a point adrift of a coveted fourth place, it was time for Motta to go.

Former Juventus defender Igor Tudor returned to his old stomping ground in a different capacity, signing a short-term deal until the end of the season. The Croatian tactician will try to earn a permanent deal by steering the fallen giants to a sought-after top-four finish in Serie A.

His first assignment will be to help Juventus recover from back-to-back embarrassments against Fiorentina and Atalanta. Indeed, a 3-0 loss in Tuscany cost Motta his job, pouring more misery on the out-of-sorts Bianconeri after a 4-0 fiasco against La Dea in their last home outing.

Visiting Genoa could deepen the crisis in Turin as they take this trip in good spirits after seeing off bottom-half Lecce 2-1 on the stroke of the international break. As a result, Patrick Vieira’s men are in contention for a first top-half finish in Serie A since 2014/15.

However, a five-point deficit to 10th-placed Udinese highlights the importance of upsetting the apple cart this weekend.

Match Preview

Juventus

Atalanta and Fiorentina have condemned Juventus to a first set of consecutive 3+ goal margin defeats in Serie A for only the third time in club history. Furthermore, the former inflicted Juve’s first home league defeat this season (W7, D7) and possibly opened the floodgates heading into an intense season finale.

Juventus had become synonymous with stalemates during Motta’s torrid regime, drawing a league-high 13 matches. Tudor must find a cure for this disease to get the Bianconeri back on track amid a rotten patch, with the home side suffering four defeats across their last six games in all competitions (W2).

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Juventus. Before Atalanta’s thumping victory in Turin, they had won four successive home league encounters, including three via multi-goal margins. On top of that, they’ve been ruthless in this type of contest.

For perspective, a commanding 3-0 win in this season’s reverse fixture against Genoa forms part of Juventus’ imperious 15-game unbeaten run against Serie A teams starting this round in the lower reaches (W9, D6).

Genoa

While revenge can be a powerful motive, Genoa head into proceedings having failed to score in consecutive league meetings with Juventus for the first time since January 2018. On the bright side, they had gone unbeaten in three straight league games against this opposition before September’s heartache at Stadio Luigi Ferraris (W1, D2).

A quick peek into the history books offers an insight into the magnitude of the task awaiting Genoa this weekend as they last returned from Turin with three points in Serie A in the early 1990s. Vieira would wish Genoa’s recent traveling record could inspire more confidence, but the Griffins have stuttered on hostile turf this calendar year.

Indeed, they have failed to win all six away league matches in 2025 (D3, L3), scoring one goal or fewer on each occasion. As if that’s not troubling enough, Genoa’s notorious run against Serie A’s best clubs intensifies the psychological pressure on the visitors, who are yet to beat a top-half opposition this season (D4, L8).

Team News

Long-term Juventus absentees Arkadiusz Milik, Juan Cabal, and Gleison Bremer remain unavailable for selection. Moreover, this clash comes too soon for Andrea Cambiaso and Douglas Luiz as Lloyd Kelly looks set to cover the void on the left flank.

On the other hand, Maxwel Cornet, Vitinha, Caleb Ekuban, and Junior Messias are not 100% but could make the bench. Full-back Aaron Martin is out with suspension, while an alleged arm injury means Mario Balotelli will miss the game amid a strained relationship with Vieira.

Juventus vs Genoa Potential Starting Line-ups

Juventus (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; Weah, Kalulu, Veiga, Kelly; Thuram, Locatelli; McKennie, Koopmeiners, Gonzalez; Kolo Muani.

Genoa (4-2-3-1): Leali; Sabelli, De Winter, Johan Vasquez, Caricol; Masini, Frendrup; Zanoli, Malinovskiy, Miretti; Pinamonti.

Juventus vs Genoa Prediction

Home fans will expect a ‘new manager bounce’ can restore some joy at the Allianz Stadium. Anything other than three points would significantly derail Juventus’ top-four chances, but they should navigate this challenge under Tudor’s iron fist.