Game Time Thread: Juventus vs. Empoli

By now, it’s no breaking news that Juventus closed out the month of August in less-than-stellar fashion, thanks in large part to an absolute dud of a first half in their home opener against Bologna. Now, back on the road again, how will Juve open the month of September?

Well, we’re about to find out.

The first Sunday of September brings a trip to Empoli that will likely bring back a whole lot of bad memories from just a few months ago. If you hadn’t had them yet, well then I’m guessing a reminder of just the notion of what happened before and during the visit to Empoli this past spring. With much of that same team still intact, Max Allegri will be out to prevent two consecutive rough defeats at the hand of Empoli, a squad that has started the season just as bad as you could have predicted and hasn’t scored a goal in the season’s first 180 minutes.

Coming off last weekend’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Bologna, Juventus saw old problems pop up again. The chance creation — especially in the first half — was lacking. The inability of the midfield to the connect the lines was magnified. The struggle, overall, was very much there, and even an improved second half wasn’t enough to dig out of the 1-0 hole Juve found themselves in against Thiago Motta’s plucky Bologna side.

So now, against a team that has scored a goal this season and has struggled in just about every way imaginable, Juventus will look to get back on the right track and extend Empoli’s misery to begin the 2023-24 season.

Let’s hope they can do it or else the next two weeks during the international break are not going to be fun at all.

MATCH INFO

When: Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023.

Where: Stadio Carlo Castellani, Empoli, Italy.

Official kickoff time: 8:45 p.m. Italy and the Central European time zone, 7:45 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, 11:45 a.m. Pacific time.

STARTING LINEUPS

Juventus starting XI (3-5-2): Perin; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; McKennie, Miretti, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Vlahovic, Chiesa.

Juventus bench: Pinsoglio, Daffara, Alex Sandro, Rugani, Cambiaso, Pogba, Fagioli, Weah, Nicolussi Caviglia, Milik, Yildiz, Iling-Junior, Kean.

Empoli starting XI (4-3-3): Berisha; Beresezynski, Walukiewicz, Luperto, Pezzella; Fazzini, Marin, Maleh; Cancellieri, Baldanzi, Caputo, Cambiaghi.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: TNT Sports 1 (United Kingdom); Sky Sport 251, Sky Sport 4K, Sky Sport Calcio (Italy).

Online/Streaming: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo (United States); fuboTV Canada (Canada); discovery+, discovery+ app (United Kingdom); DAZN, Sky Go Italia (Italy).

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