Juventus vs AS Roma - Allegri desperate to beat 'number-one enemy' Roma

Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri will settle for nothing but a win against their "number-one enemy".

Roma arrive in Turin on Saturday evening looking to close the gap on Serie A leaders and reigning champions Juve to a single point.

Doing so would put the Giallorossi in a position to take over at the top heading into the winter break, with beatable Chievo visiting the Eternal City while Juve travel to improving Crotone in midweek.

Should Allegri's men win this showdown, however, they would be seven points clear and looking to quickly extend that advantage to 10, and the Bianconeri boss will not let the opportunity slip.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, he said: "Tomorrow will be a head-to-head confrontation against a team who are, at this moment, our number-one enemy.

"A draw will not suffice for me, matches like this have to be won. If we want to guarantee we are top of the tree at Christmas, we will have to get the victory tomorrow.

"Roma are strong and organised... they have quality. We are facing a tough Roma side who are solid and who concede very few goals. It will be an important game, but not a decisive one.

"We're all looking forward to a great evening of sport featuring two great teams."

Allegri is planning to unleash former Roma playmaker Miralem Pjanic against the club he left in the summer, while the first-choice strike partnership of Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Mandzukic will start.

Missing out are injured defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Dani Alves, while Croatian winger Marko Pjaca will not return until January.

Alessandro Florenzi is Roma's notable absentee as Mohamed Salah is now fit enough to take a place on the Giallorossi bench.

The capital club have played themselves into a position to compete for the Scudetto by seeing off rivals Lazio and AC Milan heading into the Juve encounter.

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is looking forward to the challenge of securing a third straight win.

"I'm imagining the game against Juve to be an intense but fun one," the Pole told La Stampa.

"The wins against Lazio and Milan have improved our chances of winning the title and we will be there or thereabouts right until the end, whatever happens tomorrow."

Asked how he is preparing to face the prospect of a trademark free-kick from one-time team-mate Pjanic, he added: "I know Miralem very well, and his kicks are perfect.

"You have to take a step, guess in advance and hopefully keep the ball out of the net.

"Hopefully we can be careful enough to deny him the opportunity to show his quality in that regard."