Five things to watch as Thiago Motta confirms Juventus line-up early

Juventus coach Thiago Motta made a surprise call by revealing his Juventus starting line-up for Saturday’s Serie A clash against Genoa 24 hours ahead of schedule, revealing that there will be a full debut for Jonas Rouhi, and that Dusan Vlahovic keeps his place up front.

Here are five things to watch during Saturday’s game at the empty Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Five Juventus players to watch as Thiago Motta makes early line-up call

Perin preferred to Di Gregorio again

Mattia Perin is set to get his second start of the 2024-25 season ahead of summer signing Michele Di Gregorio. Thiago Motta selected the 31-year-old for the 0-0 draw against Empoli midway through September and said that Perin was a player ‘who deserved to play’ on merit.

Full debut for Rouhi  

There will be a full debut for a new Next Gen graduate in Rouhi, who has been involved with the first team squad in the early stages of the 2024-25 season, but is yet to start for the first team.

The 20-year-old full-back came on for 13 minutes at the end of the 3-0 win over Hellas Verona at the end of August, and is expected to start at left-back, a role that has been shared between Juan Cabal and Andrea Cambiaso so far this season.

Captain Danilo gets his first start

The Juventus captain is also set to get his first start of the 2024-25 season. He also made a brief cameo appearance at the end of the win against Verona, and got another half hour in the 3-1 Champions League victory over PSV last week.

Fagioli and McKennie over Douglas Luiz 

€50m signing Douglas Luiz remains out of the Juventus line-up once again, as Thiago Motta puts his faith in the pairing of Nicolo Fagioli and Weston McKennie. There is a strong possibility that the former Aston Villa midfielder emerges from the bench, but it has not been the most straight-forward of starts for the Brazil international in Serie A.

Struggling Vlahovic keeps his place

Dusan Vlahovic, who was subbed out at half-time against Napoli last weekend, keeps his place in the starting line-up. There had been suggestions that the Serbian is not the perfect fit for Thiago Motta’s preferred style of play, but with few other options up front for the Bianconeri, Vlahovic keeps his place, despite not scoring at all in the month of September.