Manchester City are in Champions League action on Wednesday night as they take on Juventus in Turin.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Cityzens have their work cut out if they’re to secure a top-eight finish in the league phase table which would mean they avoid playing two extra games in the new year. City have picked up just a point from their previous two outings.
After succumbing in Lisbon on Matchday 4, City threw away a 3-0 advantage and drew 3-3 to Feyenoord at the Etihad Stadium last time out.
They did return to winning ways in the Premier League last week as they beat Nottingham Forest 3-0, but their 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace pointed towards no major corner-turning.
The 2023 champions are facing a Juventus side that are yet to taste defeat in Serie A under Thiago Motta but are sixth in the table having drawn nine games. They’ve played out two stalemates in Europe thus far, but two victories mean they sit just behind City.
Here’s 90min’s guide to Wednesday’s Champions League clash in Turin.
Juventus vs Man City H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
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Juventus |
Man City |
|---|---|
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Juventus 2-2 Bologna – 07/12/24 |
Crystal Palace 2-2 Man City – 07/12/24 |
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Lecce 1-1 Juventus – 04/12/24 |
Man City 3-0 Nottingham Forest – 04/12/24 |
|
Aston Villa 0-0 Juventus – 27/11/24 |
Liverpool 2-0 Man City – 01/12/24 |
|
Milan 0-0 Juventus – 23/11/24 |
Man City 3-3 Feyenoord – 26/11/24 |
|
Juventus 2-0 Torino – 09/11/24 |
Man City 0-4 Tottenham – 23/11/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
TNT Sports 2, discovery+, discovery+ app |
|
United States |
Paramount+ |
|
Canada |
DAZN Canada |
It was initially thought jack-of-all-trades full-back Andrea Cambiaso would miss Wednesday’s game due to an ankle sprain, but the Italian was involved in training on Tuesday and is seemingly in contention.
Juventus, however, are without long-term absentees Gleison Bremer and Juan Cabal in defence. Nicolo Savona is back in action and could start at right-back.
Motta will also be able to call upon Dusan Vlahovic up top after three weeks out. The Serbian striker started against Bologna at the weekend.
Nico Gonzalez is a doubt, while both Weston McKennie and Douglas Luiz are on the comeback trail.
Juventus predicted lineup vs Man City (4-2-3-1): Perin; Savona, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Weah; Vlahovic.
City’s injury list remains extensive and Pep Guardiola will likely be forced to retain Kyle Walker in defence as a result. Walker has been horribly out of sorts this season.
Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake sustained knocks in last week’s win over Nottingham Forest and subsequently missed the draw at Selhurst Park. Neither player is expected to be involved on Wednesday.
City are also without John Stones for the next few weeks, while Rodri and Oscar Bobb are long-term absentees. Phil Foden and Mateo Kovacic are both expected to return to the matchday squad.
Man City predicted lineup vs Juventus (4-1-4-1): Ortega; Walker, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis; Kovacic; Savinho, De Bruyne, Grealish, Doku; Haaland.
Motta has undoubtedly installed sturdy foundations in Turin, but Juve are not yet a side that can reliably break the opponents’ press and sustain pressure. They just don’t have the players available, although Vlahovic’s recent return should give them a lift.
However, the new manager’s structure will test a vulnerable City team that has looked particularly frail away from home this season.
Trends point towards a fairly dreary contest in Turin, although both teams are blessed with wide players capable of getting supporters off their feet. That’s where this encounter could be won and lost.
The tie could go either way, but we’ll back the experience of City to prevail.
Prediction: Juventus 1-2 Man City
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2024-12-11 00:05:00
