A win at Lecce, but not yet a run
Juventus go to Genoa on Wednesday 28 October having just ended a 35-day wait for a league victory. They won 2-0 at Lecce on 25 October, with Weston McKennie and Douglas Luiz scoring in the first half, a result that moved them up to seventh on 14 points, [1] reports. It came a week after a 3-0 home defeat to Lazio, and before that a 1-1 draw at Cagliari.
The club’s own records show a side in the middle of the pack: four wins, two draws and two defeats from eight games, with 11 goals scored and 8 conceded. The previous results are mixed. A 2-0 home win over Atalanta on 20 September sits alongside a 3-2 loss at Sassuolo a week earlier, so the Lecce win has not yet made a pattern.
Luiz’s goal was his first competitive one for Juventus, and he also provided an assist, his first league game with both, according to [2]. Spalletti was pleased with his performance but also pointed out that Juventus declined after the break, allowing Lecce far more of the ball and more chances, as [3] notes. Luiz said the team must play better for the whole game.
Spalletti’s shape and the Kolo Muani question
Spalletti has been clear that he alone decides the tactics. He says the recent move to a 3-4-2-1 is a deliberate choice for the future, and that a small amount of rotation is enough to move between that and other shapes, according to [4]. In the last two matches Juventus have lined up with Randal Kolo Muani and Nick Woltemade up front and three midfielders behind them. Spalletti says this brings solidity, and it has meant leaving out wide players.
The selection question is about Kolo Muani. Tuttosport and Corriere dello Sport say he may start on the bench at Genoa, according to [5]. He has three goals in 11 appearances this season, only one of them in Serie A, although he has started nine league matches. Woltemade is expected to start for the third consecutive time across all competitions, and Kerim Alajbegović is reported as the favourite to partner him in a 3-5-2. These are press reports rather than confirmed team news, and Spalletti’s pre-match press conference was due to settle it.
Spalletti has also said Kolo Muani can work in the attacking space of the 3-4-2-1, almost as an attacking midfielder or outside forward. That suggests he could be used in a different role instead of being dropped altogether.
Absences and a crowded schedule
The midfield is stretched. Rabiot, Moreira and Gila remain out and Loftus-Cheek is injured, according to [6]. The same roundup says Alajbegović could be used behind the German striker in a 3-5-2 until the break. Those absences narrow Spalletti’s options in the area where he wants control, and they help explain why a system built around three midfielders is under pressure to rotate.
The calendar adds to it. Spalletti has said the squad has played three games in nine days and will play four more before the 8 November international break, which he describes as a risk for fatigue and mentality, per [4]. Genoa is the first of those four.
On discipline, Juventus were not affected by any suspension after the Lecce game. Lecce’s Kialonda Gaspar received a two-match ban for a straight red card in that match, according to [7], which is a detail about the opponent rather than about Juventus’s own availability.
What it means
Seventh place with 14 points from eight games is respectable but not secure. A 35-day gap between league wins shows how quickly the table can turn on a team that has lost to Lazio and Sassuolo and drawn at Cagliari. The goal difference of +3 (11 scored, 8 conceded) points to a side that is competitive but not dominant.
The form tells two stories. The Lecce win brought a first-half lead and a more solid three-midfielder structure, but Spalletti himself admitted the team faded in the second half. The next fixture asks whether Juventus can hold their shape for 90 minutes away at Genoa, with Rabiot, Moreira and Gila missing and a heavy schedule ahead. The choice between Kolo Muani and Alajbegović matters because the team has scored only one league goal from the former’s nine starts.
The site’s own forecast for Genoa v Juventus locks 24 hours before kick-off, so no figure is quoted here. The facts to watch are the starting front line, the strength of the midfield cover and whether the second-half drop-off seen at Lecce recurs. If Juventus can turn one win into two, they keep pace in the table before the break.
Sources
- Football Italia: Boniek slams Juventus: ‘I don’t see a team of champions, just good players’ football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Douglas Luiz: ‘Juventus have to improve and play better for the whole game’ football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Spalletti: ‘Juventus system brings solidity, but we went backwards in the second half’ football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Spalletti: ‘Juventus players wouldn’t dare to dictate the system we play with’ football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Spalletti set to drop Kolo Muani for Juventus’ clash against Genoa football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Today’s Papers – Double Napoli blow, Juventus drop Kolo Muani? football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Official: Serie A hand two-game ban to Allegri, suspending him for Juventus return football-italia.net ↩
