Monaco and Juventus meet in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday night in what is set to be a highly entertaining match.
Monaco are the one team in Europe every fan wants to watch. Their brand of free-flowing, attacking football has been thrilling in recent months and they show no sign of letting up. The Ligue 1 club are on course to complete and Champions League and domestic league double.
Juventus on the other hand, showed two sides to their game in the quarter-finals. At home, they took the match to Barcelona and scored 3 unanswered goals. In the second leg at the Camp Nou, Max Allegri’s team showed their stubborn defensive side, keeping out the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar on their own patch.
This is going to be a match of conflicting styles.
Monaco vs Juventus
Champions League – Wednesday 3rd May 2017 – 8:45pm
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Draw Best Odd of: 12/5 at Ladbrokes |
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Monaco
JuventusMonaco Form
Monaco are flying under Leonardo Jardim and have lost only 1 of their previous 8 matches in all competitions. The defeat came against Paris Saint-Germain in the French Cup but Jardim fielded a second-string team and it was little surprise to see them comfortably beaten in that match.
Monaco have won their last 13 home matches in all competitions, scoring 36 goals in the process, at an average of 2.77 goals per game.
There is little doubt where Monaco’s strengths are and that’s in the attacking third. This is highlighted by the fact they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 6 home matches. In fact, Monaco have conceded 1 goal in each of them.
Juventus Form
Juventus conceded a late goal at Atalanta in Serie A on the weekend, which meant they had to settle for a point. However, with Roma losing to Lazio they remained on course to win yet another Serie A title.
Juventus have lost only 1 of their previous 22 games in all competitions and that came in the Coppa Italia at the hands of Napoli.
Away from home, form has not been great in terms of winning matches, as Juventus have won only 1 of their last 5 games. However, one standout result in amongst the other 3 draws and 1 defeat was the 0-0 at Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
Team News
Monaco will be without first choice right-back Djibril Sidibe, which is a blow considering the energy he brings to the team. Nabil Dirar is expected to continue in the team in his absence.
Juventus are also missing an important player, as Sami Khedira is suspended. This could see Claudio Marchisio come into the starting XI and join Miralem Pjanic in the centre of midfield.
Top Betting Tips: Intriguing Match in Prospect at the Stade Louis II
Monaco are a team who like to play attacking football. The threat of conceding an away goal has not worried them before and it won’t again in this game. Having won their last 13 home games and conceded in each of the last 6, Monaco to win and both team score at 9/2 with Ladbrokes seems like a good bet.
Monaco have been winning at both half-time and full-time in their previous 3 Champions League matches and you can get 17/4 with BetVictor for the same to happen in this game.
Kylian Mbappe is the name on everyone’s lips and the young French striker has scored in all 4 of Monaco’s knockout games, getting the first goal in 3 of them. The 13/2 with BetVictor for Mbappe to very tempting.