Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Chievo

And now, after waiting around for two weeks of international break boredom, the fun begins.

No more time for messing around in games Juventus should win. No more messing around with lackluster efforts against any kind of team, really. Now the games truly matter. We can treat the first two games as spotting the rest of the field a couple of strokes in golf.

Just like I said in the match preview, it's the first-place team in Serie A that nobody expected to be in first place through two games facing the 17th-place team that everybody expected to be in first place through two games. It's a top of the table clash, except the team that's actually atop the table is Chievo, not Juventus.

But with the international break now a thing of the past, we're expecting Juventus to be better. And better to the point where they look like a team again, not a group of players who just look completely out of sink with one another. You know, not the one we saw struggling against Roma and Udinese. One that pretty much tells us, "Okay, this team has a shot in a couple days against Manchester City regardless of who is lining up in sky blue across from us."

And that starts today against the surprise first-place team in Serie A.

Juventus manager Max Allegri has handed debuts to a pair of players. Alex Sandro steps in for the suspended Patrice Evra, while deadline-day signing Hernanes is in the much-desired trequartista spot that Juve were looking to fill all summer long. And maybe more importantly, Claudio Marchisio returns to the starting lineup to anchor the center of the Juventus midfield.

We've missed you, Claudio. We've also missed Good Juventus. Come back, Good Juventus.

Lineups

Juventus XI (4-3-1-2): Gianluigi Buffon; Martin Caceres, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Roberto Pereyra, Claudio Marchisio, Stefano Sturaro; Hernanes; Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata

Juventus bench: Neto, Emil Audero, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Daniele Rugani, Giorgio Chiellini, Simone Padoin, Mario Lemina, Paul Pogba, Juan Cuadrado, Simone Zaza, Mario Mandzukic

Chievo XI (4-3-1-2): Bizzarri; Frey, Gamberini, Cesar, Gobbi; Castro, Hetemaj, Rigoni, Birsa; Paloschi, Meggiorini

How to watch

TV: RAI International (United States, Canada and Australia); Sky Supercalcio HD, PremiumSport HD, Sky Calcio 1, Sky Sport 1 HD Italia (Italy); BT Sport Europe (United Kingdom)

Online: beIN SPORTS CONNECT (United States); SKY Go Italia (Italy)

Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live on Twitter. If you haven't already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.