Juve-Standard Liège, Allegri’s options without Vlahovic and Cuadrado

After Arsenal and Rijeka, on Friday it’s up to Standard Liège to complete the triptych of friendlies between the break for the World Cup and the resumption of the championship, which for Juve coincides with the match against Cremonese on 4 January. Juve naturally hope to resume as they had interrupted, after a series of six consecutive victories, without conceding a single goal, which culminated with the engagement in third place in the standings behind Naples and Milan.

Doubts and absences

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Against the Belgians of Standard Liège it will therefore be a general rehearsal from a Cremonese perspective, even if the uncertainties related to the condition of some players still leave some question marks. Let’s start counting the certain absentees for both matches, which will be Di Maria and Paredes, in addition to the injured Pogba, Bonucci, Cuadrado and Vlahovic. Six in all, to which are added the doubtful cases, from Rabiot (returned today, Thursday) to De Sciglio, on his way back but still anchored to a line of prudence. The doubts relating to the latter two invest the friendly with Standard, should instead be resolved positively in Zini’s perspective.

General test

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Against the Belgians, the real knot to solve is the one linked to the right flank: the use of Mckennie is probable, given that Chiesa has some parts of the match in his legs but will hardly start from the beginning to increase his playing time, Aké is among the convalescents after a year off, and the green line, represented in the role by Barbieri and Soulé, does not seem to offer the best solution in the circumstances. Instead, Kean will make up for Vlahovic’s absence, alongside Milik, who will perhaps be doing a relay with Chiesa. If Allegri decides for the probable 3-5-2, Locatelli should still hold the reins of the midfield, escorted by Fagioli and Miretti, with Rabiot very fresh from his return who looks more to Cremonese than to Standard and Kostic to commute on the wing. The defense will hardly see the Brazilian trio on the field: if Bremer returned well in advance, on December 22nd, Danilo and Alex Sandro returned to Continassa on the 27th and it is therefore likely that Gatti and Rugani will find space against the Belgians.