Juventus vs Lazio: Italian Super Cup 2013 Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, More

Defending Serie A champion Juventus hope to capture their second straight Italian Super Cup title, but Coppa Italia winner Lazio have their eyes on an upset. It's a perfect way to start another season of football in Italy.

The two sides already went to battle over the location of the match. Lazio wanted the match played in Beijing, but Juventus didn't want to make the trip, which the current agreement with China only required once over the next two years, as reported by Ben Gladwell of ESPN.

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The Lega Calcio was left with an unpopular choice to make: upset the Chinese, upset Lazio or upset Juve. It chose the former two. By means of a compromise, Rome's Stadio Olimpico was chosen for the event, yet the Lega Calcio went even further by guaranteeing Lazio a larger slice of the overall revenue to offset their disappointment at missing out on the riches a trip to China would have offered.

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So there could be a little extra bad blood between the clubs heading into the match, which makes it all the more intriguing. Both squads would love to get the campaign off to a winning start before turning their attention to league play.

Let's take a look at all the key information for the marquee clash, followed by a preview and a prediction for which club will capture the 2013 Italian Super Cup trophy.

Where: Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy

When: Sunday, Aug. 18 at 3 p.m. ET (8 p.m. BST)

Watch: RAI Uno (Live stream only in U.S.)

Live Stream: beIN Sport Play

Preview

Although preseason results carry limited weight, especially once the season gets underway, Juventus can't be pleased with their form in recent weeks. Notably, the Vecchia Signora lost all three matches in the International Champions Cup, including one to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

That said, manager Antonio Conte is going to start taking the fixtures a lot more seriously starting with the Super Cup. A victory over Lazio would immediately eliminate any concerns raised by the lack of top form during the exhibition schedule.

Juve should be excited about their attacking potential. Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente will bolster a group that already featured Arturo Vidal and Mirko Vucinic, among others. Once they build chemistry, it's going to become very difficult to slow them down.

They also have stability at the back thanks to the centre-back duo of Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci as well as longtime goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. So Juventus should be able to get off to a solid start even if it takes some time for the attack to start producing at an elite rate.

All told, the club certainly doesn't lack talent. And, with the preseason over, expect the Italian champion squad to raise its level of play against Lazio.

The Biancocelesti have some firepower of their own. Led by veteran striker Miroslav Klose, who's shown few signs of slowing down at age 35, the Lazio attacking group should be able to put some serious pressure on the Juventus back line.

It's an attack that also features Hernanes, Libor Kozak and Sergio Floccari. While they don't receive the same type of attention or hype as the Juve stars, it's still a group that's proven capable of producing chances at a high rate.

In order to pull off the upset, however, Lazio will have to lean on their defense. They ranked fourth in Serie A last season, allowing just 42 goals in 38 matches. They even held a clean sheet against Juventus on the road early in the last term.

Ultimately, this is a match Juventus should win. Whether they are clicking on all cylinders yet is the biggest question mark, but they hold a big enough talent edge to give them the nod.

Expect Juve to raise the Italian Super Cup trophy once again.

Prediction: Juventus 2, Lazio 1