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Two healthy teams will face each other on Sunday afternoon at
the Galleana stadium in what should be a very attractive match. Piacenza shoot
for their third win in a row, a result that would allow them to secure their
permanence in the Serie A, while Juventus need nothing but the three points in
order to keep their Scudetto hopes alive.
Novellino's men have played a really good second part of the season, and last
Sunday they confirmed this trend with an impressive and deserved triumph on the
field of fourth placed Bologna. Piacenza were very effective in their previous
outings as well, but some of those were really unlucky, such as the home defeat
suffered at the hands of AC Milan.
On their part, Juventus still trail league leaders Inter by three points with as
many rounds to go, and most likely the only way they have to grab the Nerazzurri
is by winning all of the remaining matches, while hoping Cuper's men stumble
along the road.
-Piacenza: the hosts will miss three influential regulars, all of whom have been
suspended for one round: defender Lamacchi, playmaker Volpi and winger Sommese.
Coach Novellino is expected to replace them with Lucarelli, Statuto and Poggi
respectively. Forward Gautieri, who paired up Serie A topscorer Hubner in the
last weeks, will be moved on the right wing.
Starting line-up (4-4-2): Guardalben; Sacchetti, Lucarelli, Cardone, Tosto;
Gautieri, Statuto, Matuzalem, Di Francesco; Poggi, Hubner
Bench: Orlandoni, Cristante, Mora, Miceli, Patrascu, Amauri, Caccia
Injured: none
Suspended: Lamacchi, Sommese, Volpi
Cautioned (one more yellow card to be suspended): Poggi, Cristante, Caccia
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-Juventus: plenty of worries for the guests. In addition to long-term injured
Salas, Tudor, Maresca and Montero, Juve will surely miss Pessotto, who picked up
a bad injury in Italy's midweek friendly against Uruguay. Coach Lippi hopes to
at least recover Iuliano and Trezeguet, both of whom are suffering from muscular
problems.
Probable line-up (4-4-2): Buffon; Thuram, Ferrara, Iuliano, Paramatti;
Zambrotta, Conte, Davids; Nedved; Del Piero, Trezeguet
Bench: Carini, Birindelli, Tacchinardi, Zenoni, Frara, Zalayeta, Amoruso
Injured: Salas, Tudor, Montero, Pessotto, Maresca
Suspended:
Cautioned (one more yellow card to be suspended): Trezeguet, Nedved, Conte,
Pessotto