Juventus vs Galatasaray – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

The Turkish giants hold an incredible 5-2 lead from the first leg. The Old Lady have lost four of their last five matches with 15 goals conceded.  

Juventus Form

A 4-1 win for Juventus made it nine wins and just one defeat in 12 matches. Since then, their form has gone off a cliff. They lost 3-0 at Atalanta to crash out of the Coppa Italia. A 2-2 home draw vs Juventus preceded a 3-2 loss at Inter Milan.

Last week’s first leg saw a shocking 5-2 defeat away to Galatasaray. Juventus had Juan Cabal sent off in the 67^th minute at 3-2 down. By full time, the shot count was 22-7 in favour of their opponents. On Saturday, they lost 2-0 at home to Como to fall four points off the top four in Serie A.

Juventus Team News

Winger Juan Cabal is suspended for this match. Andrea Cambiaso is also missing due to suspension as options in the wingback areas are diminished.

Strikers Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik are both out injured. Right back Emil Holm is another absentee.  

Juventus Motivation

Juve have to throw the kitchen sink at this match and try to get a goal or two ahead as quickly as possible.

A three-goal margin of victory is needed to even send this match to extra time. The Old Lady can’t really afford to concede a goal or they’ll have to completely open up.

Galatasaray Form

Galatasaray lost their last match. Before that, it was just one defeat in 10 matches in all competitions. After losing 2-0 at Man City, they smashed Kayserispor 4-0 at home. A 3-1 home win followed in the Turkish Cup over Istanbulspor AS.

After a 3-0 league win at Rizespor, they beat ten-man Eyüpspor 5-1 at home. The incredible 5-2 first leg win over ten-man Juventus followed with 22 shots and five big chances created. On Saturday, they allowed 1.80 xG in a 2-0 loss away to Konyaspor as their lead at the league summit was cut to two points.

Galatasaray Team News

Galatasaray made six changes for their weekend defeat. All of the big hitters will return here, including Victor Osimhen up front and Davinson Sanchez in defence.

Centre back Metehan Baltaci is suspended for this match. Leroy Sane and Mauro Icardi may have to settle for a place on the bench once again.

Galatasaray Motivation

Coach Okan Buruk will just want to progress from the tie. A one-goal loss would be acceptable.

They will want to avoid conceding a goal in this match for as long as possible. That will force Juventus to become desperate and leave gaps at the back.

Key Stats

• Juventus have lost 4 of their last 5 matches (15 goals conceded)
• Juventus have won 7 of their last 9 home matches
• Galatasaray have lost just 2 of their last 12 matches (5 wins in the last 6)
• Galatasaray are unbeaten in 4 matches vs Juventus (3 wins, 1 draw)

Verdict

This should be an exciting second leg. Juventus have enough to win the match, perhaps even by two goals, but it’s difficult to see them progressing to the next round.

Best Bet: Juventus win and Over 2.5 goals at 1.93

Alternate Bet: Juventus win (-1 goal handicap) at 2.15