Juventus and Benfica face off on Wednesday in a UEFA Champions League Group H showdown at Juventus Stadium.
Benfica currently sits in 1st place in Group H having picked up three points so far this season. Benfica faced off against Maccabi Haifa, and they were able to win the game 2-0. There were goals scored in the 49th and 54th minute on the way to the victory. Benfica had five shots on target and 57 percent of the possession. Over the weekend, they faced off against Famalicao, and they were able to secure the 1-0 victory. Joao Mario and Goncalo Ramos are back with the team and they both are going to be big boosts for the squad. The defense is a little short-handed with Joao Victor, Lucas Verissimo, and Morato all expected to be out for this game.
On the other side of this matchup is Juventus, who sits in 3rd place in the standings having picked up zero points. In the first Champions League game at PSG, they were defeated 2-1. Weston McKenzie scored a goal in the 53rd minute but wasn’t enough as they were defeated by a goal. They had 43 percent of the possession, but only four shots on target. On Sunday, Juventus faced off against Salernitana, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw. Paul Pogba and Federico Chiesa are still dealing with long-term injuries, and they will both be missing this game. Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot, Angel Di Maria, and Wojciech Szczesny all didn’t play on Saturday, and it’s unclear if they will be able to go here.
Juventus is missing two of their best players for this game, and I think they are going to really struggle in this game. Without those two guys, I think their offense is going to have issues creating scoring chances. Benfica only scored one goal in their last game, and I don’t expect them to run up the score here. Look for this game to be lower scoring and that is going to be the difference as this game stays under the total. Back the under to cash here.