Villarreal will have attacker Yeremi Pino at their disposal after the 19-year-old’s suspension against Atalanta, but the ongoing absence of goal-getter Gerard Moreno is a bitter blow.
Francis Coquelin and Ruben Pena also remain out of contention – with Etienne Capoue also a slight doubt – and Giovani Lo Celso will need to be checked after being pictured with ice on his leg following his substitution against Granada.
Veteran defender Raul Albiol returns from a ban to displace Aissa Mandi in the heart of defence, while the likes of Samuel Chukwueze and Juan Foyth should also return to the first XI here.
Meanwhile, Juventus will have right-back Danilo back from a domestic ban, which may be timely as Juan Cuadrado is one yellow card away from a European suspension.
read also:UCL: Villarreal v Juventus – what the stats say
Already without Federico Bernardeschi, Federico Chiesa and Giorgio Chiellini, Allegri witnessed the painful sight of Daniele Rugani pulling out of the 1-1 draw with Torino due to a warm-up injury, while Paulo Dybala was also a casualty of the contest and will miss out.
Leonardo Bonucci and Luca Pellegrini are set to be available, although the former may not be ready to start, while Adrien Rabiot will also travel despite a minor scare over a training ground injury.
With Morata and Champions League debutant Dusan Vlahovic representing the visitors’ two senior attacking options, Arthur and Weston McKennie could battle it out to come into a midfield-heavy formation.
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Asenjo; Foyth, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza; Trigueros, Capoue, Parejo; Chukwueze, Dia, Danjuma
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cuadrado, Danilo, De Ligt, Sandro; Locatelli, Zakaria, Rabiot; Arthur; Morata, Vlahovic
With Juve’s ongoing absentee woes in the final and defensive third, a Danjuma-inspired Villarreal ought to sense a major opportunity to gain the upper hand in the tie amid their hot streak of form.
A wounded Bianconeri are not to be underestimated by any stretch, but their struggles without a full-strength squad were evident in the Torino derby draw, and we can see Emery’s Villarreal taking a slender first-leg advantage to Turin.
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