29 April 2016
Formidable form
Juventus enter Sunday’s encounter against Carpi looking for a 25th victory in 26 league outings in what is also their very first match since claiming an historic fifth successive Scudetto title on Monday. Their 73 points claimed from the last 75 available represents an all-time record in Serie A.
Carpi, meanwhile, have won four of their last seven fixtures, as they have seemingly saved their best form of the season for the run-in. The 14 points gained since the start of March have helped to lift the Emilia Romagna-based outfit to 17th place, three points above Palermo in 18th, who occupy the final relegation spot.
Crucial to their survival bid has been the ability to beat the teams around them, most notably Frosinone and Hellas Verona in March. While they have yet to win against this season’s current top nine sides, they have managed draws with Milan (twice), Inter and Napoli.
Maths from previous meeting
Looking back at the Bianconeri’s record-breaking season, last December’s match-up against Sunday’s opponents at the Stadio Alberto Braglia in Modena represented one of their toughest of the 25-match unbeaten run put together since the Derby Della Mole victory on 31 October.
In fact, the 3-2 victory over Carpi was the last time in which Massimiliano Allegri’s men conceded more than once in a league fixture and the newly crowned champions have only let in four Serie A strikes since.
Furthermore, the Biancorossi are the penultimate team to have led the Bianconeri in a league game this term: they did so for three minutes following Marco Borriello’s opener at the Braglia before Mario Mandzukic’s equaliser. Since then, only Milan have held a momentary advantage over Juventus (nine minutes between Alex’s header and another Mandzukic leveller).
Key men
Juve’s success this season has boiled down to an immense collective strength. Nevertheless, there are a few players currently looking to enhance their respective red-hot formbooks.
Between the sticks, Gigi Buffon will be looking to keep a 10th consecutive Serie A clean sheet at Juventus Stadium, thus extending what already represents a club record.
In midfield, Paul Pogba has contributed either a goal (three) or an assist (six) in all of his last six league outings. Meanwhile in attack, Mandzukic has netted in four of his last five appearances.
The Frenchman and Croatian both have fond memories of facing the Biancorossi this term, having scored all of Juve’s goals between them on the afternoon. Mandzukic’s brace at the Braglia is incidentally his only one to date since joining in the summer.
Despite being used mostly as a substitute, Kevin Lasagna is Carpi’s top scorer with five Serie A goals to his name this term, all of which have come from the bench, a total bettered only by Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski (seven) and Rennes’ Kamil Grosicki (six) across Europe’s top five divisions.
The 23-year-old Lasagna might well be handed a starting berth for Sunday’s trip to Turin, however, given the absence of attacking midfielder Lorenzo Lollo through suspension.
Left winger Antonio Di Gaudio is also someone for the Bianconeri rearguard to watch out for, having scored twice and provided an assist in his last six appearances.
