Juventus Midfield Shuffle Ahead of Sassuolo Clash

Teun Koopmeiners is set to be thrown straight back into the Juventus engine room as Luciano Spalletti wrestles with an early-season injury pile-up ahead of Sunday night’s Serie A trip to Sassuolo.

Juventus put their unbeaten start to the 2026-27 campaign on the line at the Mapei Stadium, with kick-off at 19.45 BST, and they arrive already looking patched up in key areas of midfield.

Spalletti shuffles the pack

Spalletti’s side opened the season with back-to-back wins over Frosinone and Parma, only to be checked by Milan in a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Stadium last weekend. Sassuolo, steady if unspectacular so far, sit 10th with one win, one draw and one defeat from their first three outings.

The visitors, though, are the ones forced into the biggest rethink.

Captain Manuel Locatelli is out for the next few months. Khephren Thuram faces a similar spell on the sidelines. Weston McKennie is still not ready. That cluster of absences has dragged two players once viewed as expendable into the spotlight: Koopmeiners and Douglas Luiz are now expected to anchor the midfield from the first whistle.

Koopmeiners, who struck in Istanbul against Galatasaray in last season’s Champions League knockout play-off, now returns as a key figure rather than a transfer footnote. Douglas Luiz, too, moves from ‘unwanted’ to indispensable in the space of a few weeks.

New faces, new roles

Tottenham loanee Pape Matar Sarr should make the matchday squad for the first time since his summer arrival in Turin, offering Spalletti at least one fresh option on the bench in the middle of the park.

Further forward, the reshuffle continues.

Kenan Yildiz is also unavailable, so summer signing Kerim Alajbegovic, who stepped in against Milan, is likely to keep his place and deputise again. According to pre-match indications from Sky Sport Italia, Nico Gonzalez is expected to start in the central attacking midfield role, nudging Nick Woltemade out of the XI and onto the bench.

At the back and out wide, Juventus remain stretched. Andrea Cambiaso, Jeremie Boga, Jeff Ekhator and Juan Cabal are all not expected to feature, trimming Spalletti’s options in both full-back and attacking areas.

Probable line-ups

Sassuolo are set to line up in a 4-3-3, looking to test a Juventus side still searching for rhythm amid the injuries:

Sassuolo (4-3-3): Muric; Cinquegrano, Leysen, Idzes, Doig; Adzic, Matic, Bakola; Berardi, Esposito, Lauriente.

Juventus are likely to respond with a 4-2-3-1 built around their reconfigured double pivot and a fluid front four:

Juventus (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Kalulu, Bremer, Lucumi, Celik; Douglas Luiz, Koopmeiners; Conceicao, N. Gonzalez, Alajbegovic; Kolo Muani.

Where to watch

For viewers in the UK, Sassuolo vs. Juventus will be shown live on TNT Sports 1, HBO Max and DAZN. In the USA, the game is available via Paramount+.

An unbeaten record, a patched-up midfield, and a coach already forced into big calls in September — Juventus’ response in Reggio Emilia will say plenty about how far this squad can stretch over a long season.