After their worst start to a season the majority of fans have ever seen, Juventus finally appear to be on the up and up. Last weekend saw them record their third consecutive win for the first time all season as Paulo Dybala was the hero of the evening to give them all three points against AC Milan. A few days later, they sealed their spot in the round of 16, with Mario Mandzukic's goal enough to edge out Manchester City and they will now only need a positive result against Sevilla to conclude the group stages as top of their group.
Meanwhile, their upcoming opponents Palermo have also appeared to have improved after a poor start to their own campaign. A 1-1 draw to Lazio, preceded by a tough win over Chievo seems to have temporarily stopped the downward slide that at one point saw them lose four straight matches and they will be hoping to keep this up as they welcome the reigning Scudetto champions to the Stadio Renzo Barbera this evening.
Palermo
It might be not yet halfway through the season, but Palermo are already on their second coach. That should be no surprise given the well-known mercurial nature of president Maurizio Zamparini, who promptly sacked Giuseppe "Beppe"Iachini earlier this month and brought back Davide Ballardini who is no stranger to Palermo, having coached them back during the 2008/2009 season.
Of course, all eyes will be on Dybala, who makes his first return to the Stadio Renzo Barbera after making a €32 million (which could rise to €40 million with an additional €8 million in potential bonuses) this summer. The young Argentinian has made quite a splash since arriving in Turin and is currently the team's top goal-scorer with six in the league and a total of seven across all competitions so far.
Palermo will be relying on his former partner in crime, Franco Vazquez - who himself has been linked with a move up north to Juventus - to provide the creative spark if they want to beat La Vecchia Signora in this fixture for the first time since February 2, 2011. With the exception of Roberto Vitello and Uros Durdevic, Ballardini will have most of his squad available for selection as they hope to keep building on their recent decent results.
Juventus
Although Massimiliano Allegri will have to approach this game sans the services of a slew of players, including Kwadwo Asamoah, Sami Khedira, Roberto Pereyra, Hernanes, Simone Padoin, and likely Martin Caceres due to injury, the Bianconeri will hope to make it four straight wins as they attempt to push their way towards the top part of the table. With Milan having cruised to all three points against Sampdoria, Juventus will need to win this match in order to again overtake the Rossoneri and start closing the gap on Roma, Fiorentina, Napoli, and Inter.
Juventus have enjoyed playing against Palermo as they have not failed to take all three points - whether at home or away - in their past six fixtures. Additionally, they have managed to shut the Rosanero out in every single one of those games and certainly to make it seven on top of another win wouldn't be a bad thing, either.
Given that Allegri opted to leave both Juan Cuadrado and Alvaro Morata out of the starting XI against Manchester City, both could likely return from the start and be deployed in attack alongside Dybala. Whatever formation the former Rossoneri manager opts to use, the expectation is that the team return from Sicily with all three points in order to find themselves in a positive position as we head towards the mid-way point of the 2015/2016 campaign.
Will Palermo finally break their string of bad luck against Juventus? Or will the Bianconeri, seemingly revitalized, roll on for a fourth straight win?
Which channel is broadcasting Palermo vs Juventus on TV or Online?
If you are a Palermo fan and are currently residing in Sicily, you might be one of the supporters going to watch this game live. And if you follow Juventus, maybe you opted to follow the team all the way from Turin to Southern Italy. For rest of Rosanero and Bianconeri fans as well as calcio neutrals, there are plenty of options to stay on top of the action from home via your TV, computer, phone, or tablet. Here are some choices for calcio fans residing in the following countries:
- In the USA at 14.45 EST on: beIN Sports USA, beIN SPORTS CONNECT U.S.A., RAI International, fuboTV, beIN Sports en Español
- In Italy at 20.45 CET on: Sky Sport 1 HD Italia, Sky Supercalcio HD, Sky Calcio 1, SKY Go Italia
- In the UK at 19.45 GMT on: BT Sport Europe, BT Sport Live Streaming
- In Canada at 14.45 EST on: RAI International, beIN SPORTS CONNECT Canada, beIN Sports Canada, beIN Sports en Español
If you live elsewhere, visit our special Palermo vs. Juventus broadcast page for options and times for your specific location.
*Note: Live broadcast data is subject to change*
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
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