Claudio Ranieri is forced into an early change.

Julian Chabot can't continue after an earlier knock and is replaced by Mehdi Leris.

Cristiano Ronaldo is beginning to get a bit frustrated with these calls.

It's a foul rather than an offside that he is penalised for this time, but he certainly has a case with this one.

Ronaldo leaps high, as he does, to meet a cross at the back post but the referee blows for a push in the back as Sampdoria goalkeeper Emil Audero struggles to keep the ball out.

He's not happy at all.

Alex Sandro sends a long ball over the top for Cristiano Ronaldo but the Juventus forward is marginally offside.

It couldn't have been much closer...

Sampdoria break down field and earn themselves a corner.

It's initially cleared but it only travels as far as Karol Linetty, who doesn't catch his shot from the edge of the box right at all and the opportunity passes by.

Claudio Ranieri will be rather pleased with the start his side have made.

Juventus have Sampdoria penned in for a moment but there are no gaps appearing as the visitors continue to make important blocks and force Maurizio Sarri's men to turn back whenever they near the penalty area.

A poor pass by Adrien Rabiot wastes a good opportunity for Juve as Cristiano Ronaldo can't quite control the ball properly and his shot is well blocked.

Sampdoria are working hard to cover the bursts of pace from the Juventus attack, but they look reasonably comfortable so far.

There's a good spell of possession now for the visitors who are growing in confidence.

An excellent run through the Sampdoria midfield by Blaise Matuidi but Cristiano Ronaldo is flagged offside just as it looked like it had opened up for Juventus.

Sampdoria haven't really got past the half-way line in possession so far but with their first attack of the match Gaston Ramirez meets Tommaso Augello's cross.

His header is straight at Wojciech Szczesny, but it's an early warning sign.

As a side note, Ciro Immobile scored a hat-trick in Lazio's 5-1 win over Verona earlier today, meaning he is now four ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the Serie A Golden Boot.

Will Ronaldo respond this evening?

Juventus have started brightly and are knocking the ball around nicely so far...

Away we go!

But tonight is all about Juve - and whether they can deliver the first league title of Maurizio Sarri's career.

Oh, and a ninth successive Serie A title. Did we mention that?

Former Chelsea and Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri was appointed as Italian side Sampdoria's manager back in October.

In his ninth spell as a manager in Serie A, Ranieri took over with the club bottom of Serie A after six defeats in seven matches.

He has since guided Sampdoria to 14th place, with five wins in their last seven league matches taking them nine points clear of the relegation places.

A job well done.

Image source, Getty Images

Meanwhile, Sampdoria boss Claudio Ranieri makes five changes following a 2-1 defeat by Genoa.

Sampdoria XI:Audero, Depaoli, Yoshida, Chabot, Augello, Linetty, Thorsby, Tonelli, Jankto, Ramirez, Quagliarella

Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri makes four changes to the side beaten by Udinese in midweek as Leonardo Bonucci, Blaise Matuidi, Miralem Pjanic and Juan Cuadrado come in for Daniele Rugani, Aaron Ramsey, Rodrigo Bentancur and Federico Bernardeschi.

Juventus XI: Szczesny, Danilo, De Ligt, Bonucci, Sandro, Matuidi, Pjanic, Rabiot, Cuadrado, Dybala, Ronaldo

Juventus just need to win one of their final three games to win their ninth Serie A title in a row.

But with only one win in their past five games, Juventus have offered some faint hope to Inter Milan, Atalanta and Lazio in the chasing pack.

They lead second-placed Inter by four points, while Atalanta and Lazio sit one point further back. All three of those sides have just two games remaining, though.

Welcome to coverage of tonight's Serie A meeting between leaders Juventus and 14th-placed Sampdoria.

Maurizio Sarri's men can claim a ninth successive Italian title tonight after passing up the opportunity to do so on Thursday, when they fell to what Sarri called a "messy" defeat at struggling Udinese.

Can they get the job done this evening? Kick-off is about 15 minutes away.

Image source, Getty Images