Juventus vs Benfica Prediction & Betting Tips (21 January)

Considered some time ago as one of the biggest European teams, Juventus has lost its luster in recent years. From now on, the Old Lady must fight to keep her place in the top 24 even if, barring disaster, she should at least be able to validate her place for the play-offs fairly quickly. The Italians occupy 17th place in this league phase and are 3 steps ahead of their opponent of the day who is the first virtually eliminated. Since their only defeat against Real Madrid in October 1-0, the Bianconeri took a point against Sporting 1-1 before winning in pain against Bodo/Glimt 2-3 then without really shining against Pafos 2-0. In Serie A, the Turinese are going through a good period since they have won 5 of their last 6 matches. They have also fully convinced to defeat Sassuolo 0-3 and Cremonese 5-0 and they will aim for a new success on Saturday against Cagliari.

Opposite, Benfica will have to wear the blue of warm-up during these next two days to hope to secure a place in the play-offs. Nothing is in fact a given for the Portuguese who today only occupy 25th place in the ranking with only 6 points on the clock. Beaten during the first 4 days by Qarabag 2-3, Chelsea 1-0, Newcastle 3-0 and by Bayer Leverkusen 1-0, José Mourinho's men nevertheless regained hope by winning against Ajax 0-2 and Napoli 2-0. At the same time, in the championship, the Lisbon side are out of the race for the title since they are 10 points behind FC Porto. Beaten in the League Cup by Braga 1-3, Benfica players will want to get back in the cup against FC Porto then they will travel to Rio Ave in the championship.

Juventus coach Luciano Spaletti will have to take into account the absences of starters Gatti (defender) and Vlahovic (striker), substitute defender Rugani and striker Milik has been absent for a long time to prepare for this meeting. All of them are in fact injured or in the recovery phase. Conversely, the defender Kelly and winger Conceiçao are well recovered after being in the infirmary in recent weeks. Often contested since his arrival at the club, former Lille player David (2 goals and 3 assists in SA, 2 goals in C1) has regained a little confidence in his last appearances. He could start at the forefront again, supported by the excellent Yildiz (6 goals and 4 passes in SA). In the Champions League, on the other hand, it is the Serbian Vlahovic who is the most prolific with 3 goals to his credit but he is therefore absent at the moment. He is notably ahead of the American McKennie who could start in the middle alongside the French international Kephrem Thuram.

José Mourinho cannot count on a full squad for this trip to Juventus Stadium either. And for good reason, the Belgian striker Lukebakio (3 assists in the league), the Danish full-back Bah and the little-used Félix are all injured. The replacements Soares and Veloso is unlikely to be called up while winger Bruma, defender Silva and midfielder Barrenechea are all slightly doubtful. On the other hand, at the forefront, the Special One should renew its confidence in the Greek goleador Pavlidis who is the top scorer in the Portuguese championship with 17 goals to his credit. On the other hand, this caps out at just one small goal in the Champions League. We should also find in the 11 some important elements such as the Luxembourg midfielder Barreiro, the important Ukrainian Sudakov, the Argentinian world champion Otamendi and the interesting Tomas Araujo.