Luciano Spalletti has demanded that Juventus maintain a "certain consistency" in their quest to secure Champions League football for next season.

The Bianconeri head into matchday 35 of the Serie A season occupying fourth place, two points ahead of Como in fifth.

Juve will look to tighten their grip on a Champions League place on Sunday against 19th-place Hellas Verona, whose relegation was confirmed on Friday following Lecce's win over Pisa.

However, Spalletti wants his players to focus on cementing their status inside the top four, rather than on one particular place.

"When I hear people talk about fourth place, I hear certain calculations, but you don't get there with calculations, you do it by maintaining a certain consistency," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference.

"We must focus on the Champions League and not on fourth place. We know full well what we did to get back into the top four, but there is a difference between needing to prove something and needing to defend something."

Spalletti also expects an improved performance from Juventus, after expressing his disappointment with their display during last weekend's goalless draw with AC Milan.

"I was not happy with the performance at San Siro, because it reduced us a little bit. We started playing the game they wanted us to," he explained.

"We brought home a result, but didn't make an impact, and that left me with a bad stomach the next day. I told the team that, too."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Juventus – Kenan Yildiz

In the last two seasons, with Yildiz starting, Juventus have won 55% of their games across all competitions (W44 D23 L13), scoring an average of 1.8 goals per match.

Without the Turkiye international starting, their win percentage drops to 19% (W4 D11 L6) and their average goals-per-game figure falls to 1.2.

Hellas Verona – Kieron Bowie

Bowie – a January signing from Hibernian – has scored twice since his move.

He scored Verona's only goal in their last six Serie A games – in the 2-1 defeat to Torino three weeks ago.

MATCH PREDICTION – JUVENTUS WIN

Verona have never beaten Juventus away in Serie A (D5 L29). It is their joint-most away games played against any opponent in the competition without ever winning (also 34 against Inter and Milan).

Juve have only lost one of their last 21 Serie A home matches (W14 D6), and have never been beaten at the Allianz Stadium by a team occupying one of the bottom two places in the table at the start of a matchday.

The Bianconeri have kept six clean sheets in their last seven Serie A matches, including each of their last four – the joint-most by any side during this span in Europe's top five leagues (level with Barcelona, Fiorentina and Lille).

Verona have won just one of their last 36 Serie A games (D8 L27) against teams in the top four at the start of a matchday.

The Gialloblu have suffered 21 defeats in Serie A this season, which is the most in the competition and fewer only than Burnley and Wolves (both 23) in Europe's top five leagues.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Juventus – 73.7%

Draw – 16.1%

Hellas Verona – 10.2%