Serie A champions Juventus travel to Portugal to take on Sporting next week, with the Italian giants having narrowly got the better of their opponents when they met in Turin just last week. Just three points separate the two teams in the Group D Champions League standings, with the home side still in with a good chance of qualifying for the latter stages.
Champions League – Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon – Wednesday 31st October – 19:45 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 12/5 at Ladbrokes |
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Sporting CP
JuventusMatch Preview: Sporting CP vs Juventus
With Juventus having come from behind to defeat Sporting in Italy last week, fans of both clubs, along with football neutrals, are expecting another entertaining affair in Lisbon. Both teams are currently behind the league leaders in their respective domestic campaigns, with neither side having found their best form so far this season. It is such facts that make this an intriguing encounter, with many appealing betting markets to take advantage of.
Sporting CP Team News & Form
Sporting recovered from their defeat in Turin with a crushing 5-1 victory over Chaves in the Portuguese Primeira Liga at the weekend, with Dutch striker Das Bost scoring a hat-trick. The forward will once again offer the main attacking threat for the home side against Juventus, with Portuguese internationals Gelson Martins, William Carvalho and Fabio Coentrao adding further skill and experience to their starting line-up.
Sporting’s only victory in Group D so far came against Olympiakos in the opening week of the competition, however Jorge Jesus’ men have been unlucky in their defeats to both Barcelona and Juventus since then. The Portuguese side have scored four goals in their three matches to date.
Juventus Team News & Form
Juventus defeated Udinese in Serie A at the weekend, despite being down to ten men early on, with German midfielder Sami Khedira scoring a hat-trick. Massimo Allegri’s men have recovered well from an opening defeat at the Camp Nou, with the Italian champions now in a strong position to yet again make it through to the latter stages of the competition.
The likes of Gonzalo Higuain and Paolo Dybala are likely to line-up in attack for the visitors, while legendary goalkeeper Gigi Buffon will provide an imposing figure in between the sticks for the visiting team. Juventus have kept a clean sheet in just one of their three matches in the Champions League so far, which is very unlike the Italian giants.
Head to Head
Before last week’s meeting, when goals from Miralem Pjanic and Mario Mandzukic helped Juventus to a 2-1 victory, the two teams have never previously met in any competitive fixture. The duo’s last meeting was back in a friendly encounter in 2011, when Juventus came out on top by a scoreline of 2-1. Otherwise, there is little to draw upon in terms of their head-to-head record.
Betting Odds and Predictions
Despite their fantastic home record, it is Juventus who are the slight favourites for victory with the majority of bookmakers. The Italians can be backed at odds of 1/1 with 888Sport, while the home side are the underdogs for victory with odds of 11/4 at the same betting platform. Meanwhile, betting on their being under 2.5 goals is worth considering, with Ladbrokes offering odds of 8/11 for this market.
Top Betting Tip
However, our top betting tip for the match is to bet on Juventus to win and both teams to score, which is available at odds of 10/3 at Ladbrokes.