Carlos Tevez – Juventus
This weekend the Italian Serie A serves up one of its biggest clashes. It’s the Old Lady versus the Rossoneri. Tradition versus tradition. Pirlo versus his old club. Juventus have continued their ever impressive league form this season and sit joint second while AC Milan have struggled and lie in eighth place.
A second-half header from French midfield sensation Paul Pogba secured a 1-0 derby win for Juventus at Torino on Sunday to send the champions up to joint second place in the Serie A. Juventus’s fifth win in six games leaves them two points off log leaders Roma and level on 16 points with Napoli but third due to inferior goal difference. Juventus had several chances to put the match beyond the reach of Torino, but had to rely on Pogba’s header in the 54th minute.
The French midfielder, who signed on a free transfer from Manchester United prior to last season, found himself in the right place at the right time when a corner came flying in from the right. Carlos Tevez rose to meet the ball and after his glancing header came off fellow striker Sebastian Giovinco, Pogba was on hand to nod the ball into the net. Juventus, who are yet to face Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday at the time of writing this article, should have scored more in a dominant second half when Tevez proved a constant threat. Tevez has scored three goals in seven games for Juve since his £12m summer switch from Manchester City.
His form this season has been fantastic — making an impact right from the word go and easily establishing himself in the Juventus squad. Legend Andrea Pirlo was rested against Torino but will be back in the Juventus team here. They clearly missed his vision, raking passes and ability to dictate the rhythm of the match.
AC Milan claimed only their second win in six games when Valter Birsa’s 46th minute goal secured a 1-0 win at home to Sampdoria last weekend. After only picking up five points in the first five match-days, Milan’s narrow victory was just the boost they needed to put them back in the top half of the table. The man of the match was easily Birsa, who not only scored the Rossoneri’s only goal but showed a creative spark, dribbling ability and continually tested Sampdoria’s goalkeeper from long range. The little-known Slovenian playmaker is slowly winning his way into the hearts of Rossoneri fans. At first, mockery was made about the Luca Antonini – Valter Birsa swap, which sent the aging left-back to Genoa, but now Birsa seems to be an integral part of the formation.
While Massimiliano Allegri’s preferred tactical line-up has been a 4-3-3 or a 4-3-1-2, he is now opting for five at the back with Nigel De Jong playing the sweeper role alongside Philippe Mexes and Christian Zapata. The change has been apparent for the past two domestic matches, where De Jong has slotted deeper in the formation and given a hand to one of the worst Serie A defences, which conceded 10 goals in the first five matches of the season. They are without the services of their superstar striker Mario Balotelli.
The Italy striker picked up a red card against Napoli for verbally harassing a referee after the game was over. To make matters worse Stephen El Shaarawy’s time on the sideline will continue after getting injured in training just when he was ready to make an appearance after the injury he picked up a few weeks back. That leaves Milan with Alessandro Matri, Milan’s most expensive signing from the summer, as the lone wolf up front. 29 year-old Matri, who joined from Juventus, has failed to impress so far this season and will likely be partnered with the unreliable Robinho.
Juventus won 1-0 here last season and are heavily favoured to win again. AC Milan are short of quality upfront to unlock Juve’s solid defence. Back Juventus to make it three out of three home wins on Sunday.
