UCL: Bernadeschi, Chiesa start upfront for Juventus, Chelsea without N’Golo Kante

In the second round of the UEFA Champions League fixtures, fans will be treated to another heavyweight clash when Italian giants Juventus square off against defending champions Chelsea on Wednesday at the Allianz Arena, Turin.

Both teams had a winning start to their campaigns, however, Chelsea didn’t have the easiest of times against Zenit St. Petersburg. A lone goal from Romelu Lukaku fetched them the three points while the Turin side opened with a convincing 3-0 victory Malmo. 

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Ahead of the game, Chelsea have injury concerns with Reece James, Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic out of the trip to Turin. N’Golo Kante is also missing after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Juventus also has injury problems and forwards Paulo Dybala and Álvaro Morata have been ruled out of the match, adding to the Bianconeri woes. Sunday’s 3-2 victory over Sampdoria was only its second in Serie A this season and the Juventus defence will face a sterner test from Romelu Lukaku and the Chelsea attack.

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Chelsea (3-4-2-1)

Thomas Tuchel will lineup his men in the signatory 3-4-2-1 formation with Lukaku leading the line. Lukaku — who spent two seasons at Inter Milan — has only scored once in six games against Juventus.

Juventus (4-4-2)

In the absence of Morata and Dybala, Massimiliano Allegri will have to start without his natural forwards upfront. Wingers Federico Chiesa and Federico Berandeschi will form the attacking pairing upfront.

Leonardo Bonucci and Matthijs De Ligt will form the centre-back pairing, while Juan Cuadrado, Rodrigo Bentancur, Adrien Rabiot and Manuel Locatelli will form the four-man midfield.