First final in Group H
On the second matchday of the 30th season of the UEFA Champions League, the top match in the fight for the group victory in Group H will take place at the Juventus Stadium between Juventus and Chelsea. According to the odds, Chelsea FC are favourites to win. Both teams won their games on the first matchday and now want to set the course for group victory with a win in the clash of the group favourites, in order to avoid possible clashes in the round of 16 for the time being.
The signs are a little different for both teams. While the Turin side have been disappointing so far and are still looking for a real goalscorer up front as well as stability at the back after Ronaldo’s departure in the summer, the Blues have been convincing overall despite their defeat in the last match and have continued their strong form from last season. Because of this, the Londoners are considered the favourites.
What seems to be an even duel on paper due to the club names and histories, is in reality more in favour of the Londoners. The upheaval that Allegri is expected to drive seems too great to be able to beat top teams in international football at the moment.
Italy Juventus – Statistics & current form
The former Juve that stood for a stable defensive line is currently nowhere to be found. After six matchdays in the domestic Serie A, they have already conceded ten goals This already corresponds to a third of the total number of goals conceded in Massimiliano Allegri’s last season in 18/19, when they conceded only 30 goals after 38 matchdays. The new old coach, who was supposed to push ahead with a new start without Cristiano Ronaldo before this season, will have to see to it that he keeps things tight at the back from now on. It was remarkable that substitute goalkeeper Mattia Perin was brought in ahead of Wojciech Szczesny, who had been the main man until then. Is this a sign of the coach’s dissatisfaction or rather an act of desperation? The ravages of time seem to have left their mark on this team. Legends like Chiellini are no longer in the team. Buffon left the club before the season for his native Parma.
As big as the defensive problems are, Juve are currently finding it difficult to create and convert chances. The negative highlight so far is the 0:1 at home against Empoli FC. Direct duels against leaders Napoli were deservedly lost. It does not seem to be an easy season for serial champions Juventus Turin. Nevertheless, the old lady can look back on a good Champions League record. They have won eleven of the last twelve Champions League games. The last defeat dates back to October 2020 when they lost to Barcelona. Another encouragement is that Juventus have the most wins against reigning Champions League winners after Real Madrid with seven wins.
Question marks behind Dybala and Morata
As if the problems weren’t big enough, they also lost their strike duo of Paulo Dybala, who left the pitch in tears, and Alvaro Morata during their last home game last Saturday. Both are expected to be out for the upcoming Champions League match If Alvaro Morata does get fit in time, he can boast a remarkable statistic. The former Chelsea striker has already scored three goals against reigning Champions League winners and is second only to Didier Drogba in this statistic. The bookmakers’ prediction for Juventus vs. Chelsea is therefore remarkably clearly in the direction of the English side.
Self-conception is missing
The Old Lady had not experienced such a turbulent start to the season for a long time. The balanced statistics with two wins, defeats and draws each are a big worry for the club bosses. Another year without a championship title is like a super-GAU in Turin. None of the games this season reminded us of days gone by, when they defeated their opponents in rows with clarity. At least they were able to win their Champions League opener in the old style with a commanding 3-0 victory over outsiders Malmö FF.
Successful dress rehearsal
Despite all that, the performance curve showed an upward trend in the last two games, which they won by 3:2, admittedly by the skin of their teeth They are now unbeaten in four games with three wins and one draw. The upcoming home match against Chelsea could therefore set the tone for the future.
Predicted Juventus line-up :
Perin – Cuadrado, Bonucci, de Ligt, Alex Sandro – Chiesa, Locatelli, Bentancur, Bernardeschi – Kulusevski, Kean
Last matches played by Juventus :
Chelsea – statistics & current form
At Chelsea FC, they go into this Champions League evening with mixed feelings from recent weeks. The recent defeat at home against Pep Guardiola and Manchester City makes the Chelsea fans, who are so used to success, look to the future with a little more caution in view of this harmless performance. Because of this defeat, the pressure on the upcoming Champions League duel with Juventus is growing immensely. Two defeats in a row have only happened once before under Thomas Tuchel, when Arsenal and Leicester were both narrowly defeated in mid-May.
The last game against City was played with an extremely defensive tactic. Again and again the Skyblues were allowed to run. Dangerous counterattacks on the part of the Blues were scarce, which is why they ultimately deserved to be beaten. Thomas Tuchel stated after the game that there was “no belief and no connection”.
Mason Mount back on board?
Missing penetration in the last game could be attributed mainly to the absence of initiator Mason Mount. Neither Kante, Kovacic nor Jorginho were able to put the forward duo of Werner and Lukaku in the limelight. It is quite possible that Tuchel will “sacrifice” one of these three rather defensively oriented midfielders and replace him with Kai Havertz or Mount in order to have a real creative player in midfield again. Romelu Lukaku in particular, the only player other than Mario Balotelli to score on his Champions League debut for two different English clubs, could match Didier Drogba and Michi Batshuayi with a goal in his second appearance for the Blues at international level.
Given the Blues’ strong start to the season, which saw them suffer their first defeat against City after picking up 13 points from five previous games, the Londoners are marked as favourites at Juventus vs Chelsea in the betting odds. The defending champions will be looking to make another international splash this season. A good starting position in the first duel for the group win would be worth its weight in gold
Predicted Chelsea line-up:
Mendy – Azplicueta, Silva, Rudiger – James, Kante, Jorginho, Havertz, Alonso – Lukaku, Werner
Last Chelsea games:
Juventus – Chelsea Direct Comparison / H2H Record
No favourite can be identified from the direct comparison of these two European heavyweights. In four encounters so far, each has won one match and drawn two others. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the last meeting in 2012 was nine years ago. On that occasion, the Italians prevailed in two knockout-round encounters.
Italy Juventus – Chelsea betting tips
On paper, the roles are distributed in Group H of the Champions League. In all likelihood, Chelsea FC and Juventus Turin will spend the winter in the Champions League, leaving Malmö FF and Zenit St. Petersburg behind. The direct duels between the English and the Italians will be all the more important if they are to win the group at the end of the group phase.
5 OPTA-FACTS – JUVENTUS VS. CHELSEA TIPP
– Chelsea have conceded just four goals in 14 games at Champions League level since last season, never conceding more than one in a game
– Chelsea have gone ten games out of those 14 without conceding a goal – Mendy is the goalkeeper second only to Keylor Navas to go ten games without conceding a goal
– Chelsea have lost just three of their last 32 Champions League group games
– Juventus have won eleven of their last twelve Champions League group games
– Juventus lost their last Champions League home game against an English representative (then Manchester United under coach Jose Mourinho)
The Turin side will be under particular pressure as they look to take the points in front of their home crowd. The Tuchel protégés could therefore use their preferred wait-and-see tactics with a compact defence around Toni Rüdiger to repeatedly launch raiding attacks via the powerful Lukaku and the speedy Werner. Nevertheless, Chelsea want to avoid conceding two defeats in a row and will therefore be no less motivated.
If Dybala and Morata are indeed out next Wednesday, it remains to be seen who will provide the dangerous scenes up front for Juve. We think a game with relatively few goals is quite realistic due to Chelsea’s defensive strength and Juventus’ lack of penetrating power. The odds for Juventus vs. Chelsea are around 1.70 for a bet on under 2.5 goals in the match. We see it similarly and are betting 5 units.
