Juventus go into their Serie A encounter at Sassuolo having extended their advantage at the top of the standings to eight points courtesy of Saturday's comeback draw with Atalanta BC.
However, they face opponents in Sassuolo who have recorded four successive victories in Italy's top flight, moving them into eighth position.
Match preview
© Reuters
Heading into the closing stages of their showdown with Atalanta, Juventus were facing the prospect of having their lead at the top of the table cut to just six points, as well as losing ground on their opponents with regards to goal difference.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo's late penalty, his second of an absorbing contest, earned Juve a potentially-decisive share of the spoils with six matches remaining.
With Maurizio Sarri's side having only collected one point from their last two outings, their form will naturally be a topic for debate ahead of another clash with in-form opposition.
Nevertheless, the final half a dozen matches are more about successfully defending an advantage which they have put together on the back of the inconsistency of their rivals.
From an individual perspective, Ronaldo now has 28 goals from the same amount of Serie A appearances this season, and the Portuguese superstar will no doubt be motivated to register another eight strikes which will take him to 40 in all competitions.
In what has been a major surprise, Sassuolo have moved themselves into second place in the form table over the past six matches, courtesy of four wins and two draws.
The four victories have all come in succession, the latest away at second-placed Lazio at the weekend, and Roberto De Zerbi's side deserve to be respected heading into this contest.
Their resurgence has left them just four points adrift of seventh-placed AC Milan and a further two behind Napoli in sixth spot.
However, I Neroverdi have not kept a clean sheet in their last seven outings, a statistic which will only fill the visitors with confidence.
Sassuolo Serie A form: DDWWWW
Juventus Serie A form: WWWWLD
Team News
© Reuters
Sarri is likely to make a couple of alterations to his Juventus starting lineup, which should include a recall for Alex Sandro.
With Juan Cuadrado serving a suspension, Danilo is in line to switch to right-back.
There could also be a change further forward with Douglas Costa potentially taking the spot of Federico Bernardeschi.
Despite Sassuolo's victory at Stadio Olimpico, De Zerbi will almost certainly make alterations to his first XI.
Francesco Caputo came off the substitutes' bench to contribute a goal and an assist, while Domenico Berardi should feature on the right wing.
Mert Muldur will also feel that he is deserving of a recall at right-back after surprisingly being dropped at the weekend.
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Muldur, Santos, Ferrari, Kyriakopoulos; Bourabia, Locatelli; Berardi, Djuricic, Boga; Caputo
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, De Ligt, Sandro; Bentancur, Matuidi, Rabiot; Costa, Dybala, Ronaldo
We say: Sassuolo 1-3 Juventus
Although Sassuolo have put together a stunning run of form, you have to expect that Juventus will bounce back at some point. Faced with in-form opponents and with an opportunity to move closer to retaining the league crown, that could happen on Wednesday.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Juventus win with a probability of 50.02%. A win for Sassuolo had a probability of 27.69% and a draw had a probability of 22.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Juventus win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.39%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.18%) and 0-2 (6.84%). The likeliest Sassuolo win was 2-1 (6.76%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.85%). The actual scoreline of 3-3 was predicted with a 1.9% likelihood.
