16 February 2019
TOP OF THE TABLE
Juventus Women come into the fixture against their Milan counterparts in great form, having won eight out of their last 10 league matches. Last time out the Bianconere were held 0-0 away at Atalanta Mozzanica, despite creating the majority of the chances, and also having had Valentina Cernoia's 15th minute penalty saved. The result however, kept Rita Guarino's girls at the top of the Serie A table, one point above Fiorentina in second and two points ahead of Sunday's opponents, Milan in third.
Juve's only defeat this season came at the hands of Milan in the reverse fixture back in November, as the Bianconere fell to a 3-0 loss, after goals from Thaisa, Valentina Giacinti and Daniela Sabatino in 15 second half minutes, saw the Rossonere take pole position in the table. However, three months on from the defeat and a good run of form has now seen Juventus take back top spot going into the fixture.
EYE ON THE OPPOSITION
The Rossonere meanwhile, have won their last three games, with their last triumph coming at home to Verona. Milan didn't have it all their way, and had to wait until around the hour mark to make the breakthrough with Daniele Sabatino and Lisa Alborghetti both scoring in quick succession, to hand a 2-0 lead to the home side.
Milan striker, Valentina Giacinti is in hot form for the Rossonere, as she currently ranks top of the goalscoring charts with 17 goals so far, whilst in second place is fellow Milan striker, Sabatino on 15. England forward, Eniola Aluko and Barbara Bonansea are both joint-fifth on the list with 10 efforts a-piece, with Cristiana Girelli just behind the pair on nine goals, to make up the rest of the top-half of the capocannoniere.
#JUVEMILAN STATS
- Going into the game Juve's Serie A record currently stands at: 13 wins, two draws and one defeat. Milan's in comparison is: 12 wins, three draws, one loss.
- Juventus Women currently boast the best defence in the league, having allowed only five goals so far this campaign. Milan have the third best, conceding 16 goals thus far.
- The Bianconere have the second-highest firepower in the division, scoring a total of 48 goals, 10 behind Fiorentina's total of 58, with Milan in third with 45.
- Serie A's current top-scorer, Giacinti actually finished last season as the Capocannoniere with 21 goals for Brescia, whilst she bettered this feat in 2015-16, netting an incredible 32 times for Mozzanica.
- The majority of Juventus Women's goals have come between the 60th-75th minute of games, with 27.1% of the Bianconere's goals scored within this time frame (13).
- Juve boast the second-best goal difference with +43, with Fiorentina first on +49, and Milan in third place on +29.
- Each sides' top scorers have played the most minutes, with Eniola Aluko registering 1,180 minutes outfield and Milan's Valentina Giacinti seeing 1,410 minutes of action.
- The Bianconere score an average of three goals per-game, conceding just 0.31 per-match. With Milan scoring 2.81 per-match and conceding 1.
- Juventus have the most clean sheets this season with 13.
- On average, Juventus score their first goal at home in the 32nd minute, with Milan also scoring their openers at the same time away from home.
