Europa League preview and suggested bet: Juventus clean sheet will seal the deal at Sporting Lisbon
Fabio Miretti
Sporting CP and Juventus meet in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, and football pundit Sergiu Baltuta (who runs SVB Tips on Tipstrr) expects a tight game in Lisbon.
With the Italian team holding a narrow 1-0 advantage from last week's first encounter, the tie is far from over, and both teams are expected to give their all, considering that the Europa League represents their last chance of playing Champions League football next season.
On Sunday evening Sporting only managed a 1-1 draw at home against Arouca and this result drastically reduced their chances of a top-three-finish, leaving them seven points behind Brage with just six games remaining.
So we can expect Sporting to bring the same positive intent to this crucial clash that they produced when eliminating much-fancied Arsenal on penalties after drawing both legs in the previous round.
A draw won't be enough for the Portuguese this time around, but it will suit Juventus to keep this game as tight as possible to protect their lead.
Indeed, Juve's defence has not been breached in their last four Europa League outings, including both away successes at Nantes (3-0) and Freiburg (2-0) and this game looks tailor-made for another classic rearguard action laced with counter-attacking potency.
Suggested bet:
Juventus to keep a clean sheet
After enjoying five consecutive wins, including two against Freiburg in the previous round of this competition, Juventus have hit a recent dip in form, during which their only win in four games was last week's first-leg success.
Other than that they managed a draw against Inter in the first leg in their Coppa Italia semi-final and lost against both Lazio and Sassuolo in Serie A.
Juventus seemed to have abandoned their dwindling hopes of a top four finish in Serie A - hopes that were all but dashed by their 15-point deduction in January - and their chances of booking a Champions League ticket now rests solely on protecting the narrow lead from the first leg.
Sporting CP are without a win in three European games against Juventus (one draw and two defeats), but the Italians lost on both of their last two visits to Portugal, against Porto in 2021 and against Benfica this season in the Champions League group stage.
It's worth pointing out, however, that Sporting have been eliminated on each of the last five occasions that they conceded a first-leg deficit in Europe.
