Looking to continue their pursuit of history, this weekend will see Juventus looking to reinforce their advantage over Napoli at the top of the Serie A table.

With their closest rivals facing a tough encounter with Inter Milan on Saturday evening, the Bianconeri will hope to take to the field against Palermo knowing they can extend the current six-point gap.

Sunday’s clash with the Sicilian outfit should be a relatively straightforward one for a Juventus side who have won 21 of their last 22 league fixtures, a run which includes a 3-0 win over the Rosanero back in November.

Since then, their opponents have suffered from a desperate loss of form and are winless in their previous 11 outings. They have conceded a total of 57 goals in 2015/16—trailing only Frosinone for the worst defensive record in Serie A—while the Bianconeri have netted 58 times, the third-highest tally on the peninsula.

Paulo Dybala moved from Palermo to Juventus last summer and remains the top scorer for Massimiliano Allegri’s men, but the coach will be aware that the Argentinian is lacking fitness as this fixture approaches.

Indeed, while the 22-year-old has weighed in with 18 goals and eight assists in all competitions, he has not featured since the March 20 win over Torino due to an ongoing calf injury. “I’m training normally, and I hope to return to the group in the next few days because I don’t feel any pain,” he told Sky Italia (h/t Football Italia) this week.

Yet with Dybala sidelined, Mario Mandzukic has stepped up for Juventus and scored in each of the last two games. Prior to those strikes, the Croatia international had not hit the back of the net since December’s victory over Carpi, a 10-game barren spell that ended with his match-winning goal against Empoli.

He followed that up with an equaliser against AC Milan last weekend, and is likely to lead the line for Juventus against Palermo. Mandzukic now has 11 goals this term, and he will surely be looking to add to that tally against Sunday’s opponents who will certainly give the 29-year-old striker the chance to do so.

According to statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, the 16.4 shots per game allowed by the Rosanero is the second-highest total in Serie A, meaning that Stefano Sorrentino is likely to have a busy afternoon at Juventus Stadium.

The goalkeeper has managed just six clean sheets in 2015/16, but he has still played well in extremely difficult circumstances. Figures taken from the Fox Soccer website show that only Emiliano Viviano of Sampdoria (120) and Frosinone’s Nicola Leali (114) have made more saves than Sorrentino’s 107 this term.

With Walter Novellino sacked earlier this week, Palermo have now made no fewer than nine coaching changes this term, per Football Italia, and their position in the bottom three is therefore no surprise.

“I’d never been in a situation like this before,” Sorrentino told Sky Italia (h/t Goal.com) back in January, and the issues have only escalated since then. Palermo’s poor goal difference has put them in the relegation places, and the shot-stopper’s ability to prevent Juventus running up the score could be crucial in this clash.

Speaking to Croatian news outlet Sportske Novosti last month (h/t Football Italia), Mandzukic said that Allegri “has given me a lot of support” before adding that the coach had helped him overcome his earlier struggles.

“With this faith he was close to me in the difficult moments and that means a lot to me,” Mandzukic continued, and he will look to repay that faith by winning his battle with Sorrentino on Sunday to help Juventus beat Palermo.

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