Juventus vs. Sassuolo Betting Tips: Why Dusan Vlahovic and Angel Di Maria both appeal in Old Lady opener

The 2022/23 Serie A season got under way over the weekend with wins for the likes of AC Milan, Inter, and Roma. After two seasons without the title, one team that will be hungry to burst back into contention this term is Juventus, starting with a win on Monday night at home to Sassuolo (BT Sport 1, 7.45pm)...

Juventus endured an extremely poor start to the previous season, failing to win any of their opening four matches, which included defeats to Empoli and Napoli. The Old Lady certainly won’t want to stutter out of the blocks this time around, instead they’ll be eyeing up all three points against a tricky Sassuolo.

Sassuolo won this very fixture last season, 2-1 at the Allianz Arena, however over the summer they lost star striker Gianluca Scamacca to West Ham, and suffered an early season blow to the confidence in a 3-2 Coppa Italia defeat to Serie B new boys Modena.

Juventus will be without Paul Pogba, Federico Chiesa, Wojciech Szczesny, and the suspended Adrien Rabiot continues to be hotly linked with Man Utd, while Angel Di Maria is expected to start following his summer move from PSG, as could fellow new boy Filip Kostic.

Juventus are the short-priced 1/2 favourites to grab a win in the opener - they’ve not gone winless at the start of successive Serie A seasons since 1979 & 1980 - whereas Sassuolo are 6/1 to repeat the feat of last season with another Turin triumph. Given that there's been so much change this summer at Juventus, it could take a little bit of time for the hosts to stir this season, making a draw appeal at a sizeable 15/4 with bet365.

He may be 34 now, yet Angel Di Maria represents an exciting addition to Allegri’s side. It will be interesting to see whether he’s employed on the wing or in more of a free role in the attack, but either way the Argentine’s high-profile arrival will surely please striker Dusan Vlahovic, given that the ex-PSG star has accumulated nearly 250 assists during his career.

Di Maria carved out 76 Ligue 1 assists in a successful spell at PSG, freely supplying the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, and Lionel Messi. Now in Italy for the first time, he’ll be keen to make an instant impact at Juventus and is a boosted 5/2 (Paddy Power) to open up with an assist against Sassuolo on Monday night, a price that stands out given he’s 15/8 with other outlets.

Di Maria is also available at a boosted 13/2 (William Hill) to score the first goal of the game on his competitive debut.

After seeing Romelu Lukaku score for Inter Milan upon his return to Serie A, Juventus marksman Dusan Vlahovic will be gunning to get off the mark on Monday. The duo have been installed as the favourites for Golden Boot glory, in what is expected to be a compelling battle.

Vlahovic fired in 24 goals in 36 league games for Fiorentina and Juventus last term; only Ciro Immobile found the back of the net more times in Serie A with 27.

Fresh off a top-30 Ballon d'Or nomination, the Serbian striker - who scored 34 goals for club(s) and country in 2021/22 - should fancy his chances of opening his account against Sassuolo, a club that conceded 68 goals last season including one to Vlahovic.

It promises to be a big season for both Juventus and their young sharpshooter who is a best-priced 4/1 with Paddy Power in the first goalscorer market, compared with offers of 3/1 and 7/2 elsewhere.