Prediction: Juventus vs Sevilla

Verdict: Total goals under 2.5

Best odds: 8/13

Bookmaker: 888sport

It’s the week of the first legs of European semifinals, and on Thursday, the Europa League takes the central stage with both matches being played in Italy. In Rome, AS Roma plays host to Bayer Leverkusen at the Stadio Olimpico, while Juventus welcomes Sevilla to the Allianz Stadium in Turin.

These teams have played against each other before, four times within Champions League group stages, in 2015/16 and 2016/17. Juventus won twice, Sevilla once, and one encounter ended without a winner. Both sides will be aware that this competition isn’t quite as prestigious as the Champions League, but also that this is no group stage. It’s a fight for a place in the final and a chance for a European trophy.

Juventus

For Juventus, this season hasn’t been bad at all, as far as their on-pitch performances and results go, but they’ve mostly been the pick among the topics in Italian football for things that practically have nothing to do with the current crop of players. But they still might be affected by the consequences.

The Bianconeri were punished for alleged financial rule-breaking in the past, with 15 points being deducted from their Serie A tally, and it severely jeopardized their place in any European competition next season, let alone the Champions League. The verdict has been revoked for the time being, just as their domestic form picked up, and now they find themselves second to newly crowned champions Napoli with 66 points. Providing there are no more deductions, they should be able to qualify for UEFA’s elite club competition without major difficulties. The issue is yet, however, to reach its final resolution.

As for their form, Massimiliano Allegri’s men won two of their last six matches in all competitions, drawing one and losing two. They drew 1-1 away to Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League quarterfinals (second leg), lost 0-1 at home to Napoli, lost 1-0 away to Inter Milan in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal, drew 1-1 away to Bologna, beat Lecce 2-1 at home, and eventually beat Atalanta away by 0-2.

Team News

Wing-back Mattia De Sciglio underwent knee surgery recently, while centre-back Gleison Bremer suffers from a muscle problem. These two players are out, but Allegri has midfielder Paul Pogba and winger Federico Chiesa back after lengthy injury absences.

With Wojciech Szczesny in goal, the back line should consist of Danilo, Leonardo Bonucci and Alex Sandro. Manuel Locatelli and Adrien Rabiot are expected to hold the middle of the park along with Nicolo Fagioli, flanked by Filip Kostic on the left and Juan Cuadrado on the right. Angel Di Maria is likely to support striker Dusan Vlahovic upfront.

Sevilla

Meanwhile, Sevilla have endured an underwhelming La Liga campaign for the most part so far. Having lingered too close to the bottom of the table for a while, they’ve managed eventually to improve their results and at the moment, they’re 11th with 44 points. Due to the tightness of the pack in that section of the table, they only have three points less than Girona in seventh place.

Jose Mendilibar’s team could yet qualify for a European competition again even if they don’t win this one. Osasuna are directly ahead with the same tally, Rayo Vallecano have two points more, and Athletic Bilbao have 47 – the same as Girona.

Sevilla’s most recent six matches yielded five victories: 0-2 away to Valencia, 3-0 at home against Manchester United in the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, 2-1 at home against Villarreal, 0-1 away to Athletic Bilbao, and 3-2 at home against Espanyol. The only game they failed to win was a 0-2 home defeat to Girona, squeezed in between the last two victories.

Team News

Defender Tanguy Nianzou and attacking midfielder Suso are unavailable for selection through injury, but Mendilibar will be pleased to have midfielder Fernando, as well as wingers Lucas Ocampos and Erik Lamela, in his ranks, following some fitness worries.

Mendilibar has been rotating his goalkeepers between the domestic and the European scene, and while Marko Dmitrovic stands between the posts in La Liga, Morocco international Yassine Bounou is set to start on Thursday again. Midfielder Nemanja Gudelj has been playing centre-back lately, and he’s likely to do so again, next to Loic Bade, with Jesus Navas on the right and Marcos Acuna on the left. Ivan Rakitic should start and play next to Pape Gueye in the middle of the park, with the trio of Ocampos, Oliver Torres and Bryan Gil supporting Youssef En-Nesyri in attack.

Conclusion

This should be a very interesting contest between two high-quality sides, but don’t expect either to open up too much. Sevilla might just nick the win in Turin despite most bookmakers suggesting otherwise, especially if they break the deadlock late, but there shouldn’t be too many goals in any case.

Verdict: Total goals under 2.5

Best odds: 8/13

Bookmaker: 888sport