Juventus vs Man City Preview: Team News & Prediction

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These two sides have just been drawn together in next summer’s FIFA Club World Cup with both sides massively underperforming at the moment and the term ‘crisis’ used against both.

Kick-off date/time: Wednesday 11th December, 2024: UK – 8:00pm / US ET – 3:00pm / US PT – 12:00pm

How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – Not televised

How to watch online: UK – Discovery+ / US – Paramount+

Juventus Preview: New era teething issues for Old Lady

Thiago Motta is now under growing pressure in charge of Juventus as the former Bologna boss tries to make his style of football a bit more entertaining and a lot more effective. They remain unbeaten after 14 matches in Serie A but eight of those 14 games have been draws.

In the UEFA Champions League, they were fortunate to escape Birmingham with a goalless draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park a couple of weeks ago. They have two wins in five UEFA Champions League games and have scored just seven goals on the continent.

Man City Preview: Pep’s choices

Manchester City are in crisis as we approach the jam-packed festive fixture schedule. They appeared to have turned a corner against Nottingham Forest last week but a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the weekend means they have won just one of their last nine matches.

Two of those nine games have been in the UEFA Champions League with a 4-1 hammering at the hands of Sporting CP early last month. A couple of weeks ago, they were 3-0 up against Feyenoord late on before City collapsed and eventually shared a 3-3 draw with the Dutch side.

Juventus Team News: Key absentees

Brazil international defender Bremer remains sidelined with an ACL injury, whilst full-backs Juan Cabal and Andrea Cambiaso are also unavailable. Summer signings Douglas Luiz and Nicolas Gonzalez are inching closer to full fitness for this one.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; Savona, Kalulu, Gatti, Danilo; Locatelli, Thuram; Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Weah

Unavailable: Bremer (Injured), Cabal (Injured), Cambiaso (Injured), Milik (Injured)

Questionable: Luiz (Injured), McKennie (Injured), Gonzalez (Injured)

Man City Team News: Bizarre decision-making

After that impressive performance against Forest, Pep Guardiola then dropped Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku to the bench at the weekend after the pair were arguably their best performers. They are expected to return to the eleven this week.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Ortega; Lewis, Walker, Dias, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Grealish; Silva, De Bruyne, Doku; Haaland

Unavailable: Stones (Injured), Ake (Injured), Rodri (Injured), Kovacic (Injured), Bobb (Injured)

Questionable: Akanji (Injured), Foden (Illness)

Key Stats

Juventus won the only previous two UEFA Champions League matches between these two teams, both in the 2015/16 group stage (2-1 a, 1-0 h).
Juventus have lost only one of their previous six UEFA club competition matches against Man City (W3 D2).
Juventus have lost only two of their last 13 UEFA club competition matches against English teams (W6 D5).
Juventus have lost only one of their last ten UEFA club competition matches at home against English teams (W4 D5).
Juventus have lost only two of their last 13 UEFA club competition matches (W6 D5).
Francisco Conceição is set to make his 20th appearance in the UEFA Champions League proper. At the age of 21 years and 363 days, he would be the third youngest Portuguese player to reach the landmark, after Cristiano Ronaldo (21y 254d) and Nani (21y 339d).
Man City are unbeaten in their last six UEFA club competition matches against Italian teams (W4 D2), since their two defeats against Juventus in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Man City have lost only one of their last 29 UEFA club competition matches (W18 D10).
Man City have scored three or more goals in 12 of their last 15 UEFA Champions League matches.
There has been a total of 61 goals scored in Man City’s last 15 UEFA Champions League matches – an average of 4.07 goals per game.
Bernardo Silva is set to make his 74th appearance in the UEFA Champions League proper for Man City breaking the club record of 73 appearances which was previously held by Fernandinho. İlkay Gündoğan will move into joint-second alongside Fernandinho on 73 if he features.

Juventus vs Man City Prediction

Juventus are blunt. The Bianconeri began the season with Motta’s influence seeming to be a positive one but things have stagnated to a point where they are clinging on to get to the January break in touch with the top four in Serie A. They now face a Manchester City side that themselves have become overly formulaic, albeit with a bit more looseness at the back. The experience of City means they will surely turn things around soon and they are favourites for what is expected to be a low-scoring encounter in Turin.

Juventus vs Man City Tip: Man City to win & under 3.5 goals