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In a couple of hours, Juventus' lead atop the Serie A will be 14 points. Or it will be 12 points. Or maybe it will stay right where it is when they arrived at the Renzo Barbera Saturday night at 11 points.
Those three options are all in play when Juventus takes the field against Palermo in just a matter of minutes.
The lead in Serie A is safe. Paul Pogba's goal against Sassuolo on Monday ensured us the ability to say exactly that. With Roma playing Sampdoria on Monday night, Juventus can push their lead — at least for a short 48-hour period of time — even higher and higher with their 19th Serie A win of the season.
Match Preview
We can talk about the Champions League being a few days away all we want. But outside of everybody in black and white — or maybe blue based on the first Juventus-Palermo game this season — seeing Max Allegri's squad play well might be the most important thing heading into the decisive trip to Germany in a couple of days.
That's not exactly something they've done a lot of lately. It's been a slog at times, a struggle at others. Juventus aren't close to the top of their game, kinda stuck on cruise control right now with plenty of room to improve being rather obvious at this point.
Will they start their turn for the better today?
It won't be easy considering Palermo is rather good at home this season. But it sure would be suggest considering the second leg against Borussia Dortmund in just a couple of days will be, oh, only the biggest game of the season.
(Yeah, no pressure, fellas.)
Eleven. Twelve. Fourteen. One will be left standing in the end. Which one shall it be?
The starting lineups for both Juventus and Palermo will be RIGHT HERE when they become available. I'd write a Simone Padoin joke, but he's actually expected to play, so there's no reason to go to the prepared comedy. I'll have to think of something for Rubinho instead, even if he isn't all that funny. (He should be, huh? The guy never plays!)
UPDATE: LINEUPS!
Juventus XI (3-5-2): Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner, Sturaro, Marchisio, Pereyra, De Ceglie; Tevez, Llorente
Juventus bench: Storari, Rubinho, Ogbonna, Pepe, Morata, Padoin, Vidal, Matri, Evra
Palermo XI (3-5-2): Sorrentino; Vitiello, Terzi, Andelkovic; Rispoli, Rigoni, Maresca, Barreto, Daprelà; Vazquez, Dybala
Palermo bench: Ujkani, Milanovic, Joao Silva, Emerson, Della Rocca, Bolzoni, Chochev, Quaison, Ortiz, Jajalo, Bentivegna, Belotti
