Europa League: Old Lady Looking to Take Lead over Sporting Lisbon

Juventus vs Sporting Lisbon

Juventus are back in the quarter-finals of the Europa League for the first time since they last played in the competition in 2013-14.

The Old Lady of Turin appears unlikely to make the Champions League through their league place after getting hit with a 15-point penalty, so winning the Europa League could be their best chance of getting in.

But standing in their way are Sporting Club de Portugal, who are riding an 11-game unbeaten run in all competitions and defied the Europa League 2023 odds by knocking out Premier League leaders Arsenal in the previous round.

Talking Points

Juventus need to bounce back after recent setbacks

Juventus have hit a bit of a rough patch. After winning five games in a row – including both legs of their round-of-16 tie against Freiburg – and winning 11 of 13 games, Juve have failed to win back-to-back matches.

They were held to a 1-1 draw by Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia after a late Romelu Lukaku penalty. Then they lost 2-1 away to Lazio, which dealt a major blow to their faint top-four hopes.

Max Allegri has been unable to get much from two of his star attackers, Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa. The two former Fiorentina forwards have had disappointing seasons; Vlahovic, the team’s leading scorer, has just 11 goals this season, while Chiesa has just two.

Although, the two did score in their 2-0 win at Freiburg to seal their 3-0 aggregate win in the Europa League round of 16.

Amid the Juve attackers’ struggles, Adrien Rabiot has stepped up for the Old Lady. The French midfielder scored once again at Lazio as he upped his tally to 10 goals this season.

Meanwhile, Angel Di Maria has also provided his fair share of Europa League 2023 highlights. The Argentine has scored eight goals this season, half of which have come in three Europa League games.

The Allianz Stadium has been a fortress for Juve of late. They have gone unbeaten in their last eight home games, with six wins and two draws.

Sporting unbeaten run up to 11 straight games

Sporting Lisbon are well behind rivals Benfica and Porto in the Portuguese league this season. The Lions are down in fourth, 24 points back of leaders Benfica.

But Ruben Amorim has dramatically turned Sporting’s form around in recent months. Since the start of their Europa League play-off against Midtjylland, Sporting have gone unbeaten in 11 straight games.

They thrashed Midtjylland 5-1 on aggregate and then delivered the shock of shocks when they knocked out Premier League leaders Arsenal on penalties in the round of 16.

Sporting are coming off a 4-3 win away to Casa Pia AC over the weekend. Barcelona loanee Francisco Trincao was the star of the show as he scored a hat-trick, while leading scorer Pote had a goal and two assists.

Pote has been brilliant this season with 17 goals – none bigger than his equaliser against Arsenal in the second leg – as well as 9 assists.

Sporting are on a sensational run away from home. They are unbeaten in their last nine away games, with seven wins and two draws.

History

This will only be the third meeting between Juventus and Sporting. The two sides previously faced off in the group stage of the 2017-18 Champions League campaign. Juve won 2-1 and drew 1-1 in Portugal.

Sporting have significant problems facing Italian clubs in Europe. They have not won any of their 15 European matches against Italian opposition, with four draws and 11 defeats.

However, they have lost just once in their last six away games in Europe, with two wins and three draws.

Betting Tip

SBOTOP odds have Juventus installed as 1.83 favourites to get the first-leg win at home. Sporting are priced at 3.85, while a draw is 3.40. While Juventus are always formidable at home, it is unwise to underestimate Sporting. The Portuguese have the potential to pull off a surprise. And while beating Juve in Turin may be a  tough task, I fancy them to at least get a positive result in the first leg.

 

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