Preview: Frosinone vs. Juventus - prediction, team news, lineups

While the Canarini toppled Napoli to reach the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, they now face a rejuvenated Juve side in contention for the title.

Match preview

Writing their names into club history, Frosinone's young squad - largely made up of inexperienced loanees from bigger clubs - conquered the Scudetto-holders on Tuesday evening, storming to a 4-0 success at Stadio Maradona.

Midfielder Enzo Barrenechea - borrowed for a season from Juventus - opened the scoring midway through the second half, and a stoppage-time penalty converted by Walid Cheddira against his parent club was the Canarini's third strike of a night that saw them beat Napoli for the very first time.

Victory set up a tie with either Juventus or Salernitana, marking Frosinone's first appearance in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, but between now and next month - when they will travel either to Turin or Salerno - Eusebio Di Francesco's side have Serie A duty to attend to.

They kicked off in Naples having suffered league defeats to AC Milan and Lecce either side of a goalless draw with Torino, which saw them slip a few spots down the standings.

Nonetheless, they remain safely in mid-table, having excelled since topping Serie B last season: following a 3-1 loss at home to Napoli on the opening day, they have won five times out of seven at Stadio Stirpe without being beaten again.

Juventus also took advantage of Napoli's ill fortune when beating their southern rivals 1-0 in Turin earlier this month, but having continued a fruitful run of one-goal victories, Max Allegri's men came up just short last time out.

Allegri took his side to Marassi for last week's Friday evening kickoff, keen to put pressure on table-topping Inter Milan; however, it proved a rare occasion on which the Bianconeri could not retain an advantage.

Federico Chiesa's first-half penalty was levelled by a smart Genoa move finished off by Albert Gudmundsson shortly after the break, and Juve ultimately had to settle for a point.

As a result, they sit four points adrift of Inter approaching their final fixture before Christmas, which comes before a home game against Roma to conclude 2023 and their Coppa Italia tie versus Serie A strugglers Salernitana.

With no European commitments due to a UEFA ban, Juventus have been able to focus on honing their craft in training and then producing winning performances on the pitch - albeit without much finesse - so regaining the Scudetto is a credible target come 2024. With that goal in mind, slipping up against another promoted opponent must be avoided at all costs.

Frosinone Serie A form:

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L

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L

D

L

Frosinone form (all competitions):

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W

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D

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W

Juventus Serie A form:

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D

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Team News

One downside of being absent from Europe has been a lack of chances for fringe players to make their mark and achieve match-fitness, but Max Allegri may make some changes to his Juventus XI on Saturday.

After being restricted to a series of cameo appearances, Arkadiusz Milik could be paired with five-goal top scorer Federico Chiesa up front - particularly as Dusan Vlahovic has yet to find his rhythm; Tim Weah will also press for a start in place of either Andrea Cambiaso or Filip Kostic at wing-back.

Italy striker Moise Kean joins Mattia De Sciglio on the sidelines, alongside suspended pair Paul Pogba and Nicolo Fagioli, but Adrien Rabiot is set to overcome a rib injury and could displace Fabio Miretti from the visitors' midfield.

Meanwhile, Frosinone are without the services of Luca Mazzitelli, Riccardo Marchizza and Real Madrid prospect Reinier, while Caleb Okoli must serve a suspension after picking up another yellow card in last week's 2-1 loss to Lecce.

Juventus-owned Kaio Jorge scored the Canarini's goal in that game from the penalty spot, and the Brazilian should start against his parent club - likewise young Enzo Barrenechea.

After making a number of changes for the win over Napoli in midweek, Eusebio Di Francesco will revert to a more familiar lineup back at Stadio Stirpe, with leading scorer Matias Soule - also on loan from Juve - returning to the hosts' front three.

Frosinone possible starting lineup:

Turati; Lirola, Monterisi, Romagnoli, Oyono; Brescianini, Barrenechea, Gelli; Soule, Jorge, Ibrahimovic

Juventus possible starting lineup:

Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Weah, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot, Cambiaso; Chiesa, Milik

We say: Frosinone 0-1 Juventus

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