The midfielder has warned that the home side will be keen to end their wretched recent run in Serie A against the reigning champions

Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio is wary of a backlash from struggling Lazio when Massimiliano Allegri‘s team travel to the Stadio Olimpico on Friday.

Since losing 1-0 at Sassuolo at the end of October, Juventus have won five matches in a six-game unbeaten run across all competitions.

The return to form has helped the defending champions claw their way back up the Serie A table to fifth, seven points shy of Napoli, who replaced Inter at the summit with a 2-1 win over Roberto Mancini’s side on Monday.

Lazio are only five points worse off in 10th, but their form has collapsed over recent weeks.

Europa League wins over Rosenborg and Dnipro have disguised an alarming slide which has seen Lazio collect one point from their past five matches in the league.

“When a team goes through difficult moments, they will try to bounce back in a big game,” Marchisio told Sky Italia.

“But we are preparing well, we are confident.”

Marchisio has been heartened by Juve’s recovery from winning only one of their opening six Serie A games this term and he believes there is further improvement to come, with lifting a fifth successive Scudetto remaining a significant challenge.

“The recovery is not yet complete but the pride and commitment of the last month is perfect,” he said.

“We’re back and it will be more difficult than in past year to win the title. The departures during the close-season were incredible but the season is long and there are still a lot of matches to go.”

Marchisio could be joined in midfield on Friday by Sami Khedira after the Germany international returned to training following a thigh injury, although Paul Pogba is suspended.

Pioli believes his team are not earning just rewards for their performances and has backed his players to turn their fortunes around.

“The results are painful right now, but the performances in recent games are not,” he said.

“In this situation a coach has to work, motivate and choose the best way to get out of it. I believe in our work as a team.

“There’s a lot of disappointment, the results are negative and the table proves it, but we certainly want to emerge from this delicate moment.”

Lazio lost 2-0 to Juventus in the traditional season curtain raiser of the Supercoppa Italiana back in August, with Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala scoring second-half goals.

The Juventus forward duo enter this latest meeting in high spirits – Mandzukic boasting three goals in his previous four matches, while Dybala has six goals and three assists to his name in Serie A this season.

Antonio Candreva is set to start for Lazio after his agent was forced to dismiss speculation that the Italy winger is set for a January move to Inter.

Key Opta stats:

– Lazio have not won in Serie A against Juventus since December 2003: since then, there have been 15 wins for the Bianconeri and six draws.
– Juventus have failed to find the net only once over these last 21 games (0-0 in November 2012).
– Alessandro Matri, Juventus’ former player, has scored four goals in Serie A against the Bianconeri, though they all have come before his move to Juventus in January of 2011.
– Stefano Pioli has never beaten Juventus in his managing career: three draws and eight defeats across Serie A, Coppa Italia and Italian Supercup.

NaijaBet Odds

As at this post Lazio  has 3.50  odd to win the match on NaijaBet while Juventus has 2.11 odd to win the match also, while the odd to draw the match is 3.17

The defender says Los Blancos are aiming to continue their recovery from the defeat to Barcelona when they take on Cadiz in the Copa del Rey

Pepe admits Real Madrid are still smarting from their 4-0 defeat to Barcelona but they are working to return to consistency ahead of their Copa del Rey clash with Cadiz.

Rafael Benitez’s side were thrashed by the Catalan side in front of their own fans on November 21, consigning them to successive defeats in La Liga for the first time in more than a year.

After putting together consecutive victories over Shakhtar Donetsk and Eibar, Madrid travel to face third-tier Cadiz on Wednesday.

Portuguese centre-back Pepe says they remain behind their under-pressure coach and are working hard to improve results and remain in contention for silverware.

“We did not expect to play like that against Barcelona,” he said. “We are with the coach and with the president.

“We have to match the intensity of our opponent and know what we have in our hearts.

“We have a lot of quality, but that alone will not win games. The fans asked us to work and that’s what we’ll do.

“It hurt us a lot. We have pride and the only way to get out of this situation is to work.”

Teenage Norwegian international Martin Odegaard and Borja Mayoral were among a selection of Castilla players who trained with the first-team on Monday, so could be in line to feature.

Raphael Varane (thigh) and Sergio Ramos (shoulder) remain sidelined, while Marcelo (thigh) is unlikely to feature despite working with the ball ahead of the clash.
Madrid won the Copa for the 19th time in 2014, with Barcelona (27) and Atheltic Bilbao (23) the only sides to have lifted the trophy on more occasions.

In contrast, Cadiz have never won the tournament, though they did reach the semi-finals in the 1989-90 edition, only to be eliminated by Madrid 4-0 on aggregate.

Claudio Barragan’s side narrowly missed out on a place in the second tier last season, suffering defeat to Athletic Club II in the promotion play-off final.

However, Cadiz – who have 2007-08 Pichichi winner Daniel Guiza in their ranks – look set to mount another promotion challenge this term, with just one defeat in 15 matches in Group Four of the Segunda B putting them third in the table.

The Andalusian club are four points adrift of leaders Real Murcia, who inflicted their only defeat of the campaign at the Estadio Ramon de Carranza.
That loss came as an act of revenge after Cadiz dumped them out in the first round of the Copa, with subsequent victories over Mensajero and Laredo setting up thier date with Madrid.

NaijaBet Odds

As at this post Cadiz has 8.20  odd to win the match on NaijaBet while Real Madrid  has 1.33 odd to win the match also, while the odd to draw the match is 5.01

B

The third-tier side travel to the Camp Nou having lost all five games since holding the treble winners a surprise 0-0 draw in the first leg of their last-32 tie

Holders Barcelona will aim to snuff out the slim prospect of an early Copa del Rey exit when they host Segunda B outfit Villanovense on Wednesday.

A second-string Barca line-up were unable to find a way past their third-tier opponents when the first leg finished goalless in October.

An attack led by Munir el Haddadi and Sandro Ramirez failed to fire and head coach Luis Enrique must ponder whether to name the likes of Ballon d’Or nominees Lionel Messi and Neymar in his squad in case the threat of an improbable upset begins to loom larger.

The members of the first team that are rested in this one will have thoroughly earned that luxury, as Barcelona have been in scintillating form over recent weeks.

Bitter rivals Real Madrid were beaten 4-0 in the first Clasico showdown of the season at the Santiago Bernabeu and, on Saturday, Real Sociedad were dispatched by the same scoreline after Roma left the Camp Nou on the back of a 6-1 midweek Champions League demolition.

“I hope our best moment is still to come,” Luis Enrique told reporters after the Sociedad match.

“That we are playing well and that the team is enjoying themselves is undeniable. But nobody wins anything in December.

“We have an important month coming up, with big games in La Liga, the Club World Cup and the Copa del Rey. We have to take it game by game.”

Indeed, the away leg at Villanovense is the only time in the past 10 competitive outings that Barcelona have not emerged victorious.

By contrast the minnows come into the match in wretched form.

A 2-1 loss to Cartagena on Saturday was their fifth in succession since playing Barcelona and leaves Julio Cobos Moreno’s team mired in Segunda B Group 4 relegation trouble.

Cameroonian midfielder Wilfrid Kaptoum made his Barcelona debut in the first leg, with Aitor Cantalapiedra doing likewise from the bench and both 19-year-olds will be hopeful of further action on home turf.

The last-32 clash will be completed ahead of schedule due to Barca’s forthcoming participation in the Club World Cup.
All other first-leg matches in the round take place this week with the return fixtures to follow two weeks later.

NaijaBet Odds

As at this post Barcelona has 1.06  odd to win the match on NaijaBet while Manchester City has 41.00 odd to win the match also, while the odd to draw the match is 9.20