Juventus vs Freiburg – Betting Preview
In the round of 16 of the Europa League, Juventus will play home to Bundesliga upstart Freiburg on Thursday night in an effort to put domestic issues behind them and move closer to winning some silverware.
Juventus Preview
Already clear favourites to progress coming into their playoff tie with Nantes last month, Juventus may have been stung by a blistering counter-attack to draw the home leg 1-1, but ultimately eased through in France as Angel Di Maria bagged a hat-trick against 10-man opponents.
Juve’s work became much simpler after Nicolas Pallois was sent in the 17th minute, and they went on to have a better start to their Europa League campaign than they did to their participation in Europe’s top competition.
The Bianconeri, who lost five times in the Champions League group stage, eventually recovered from that humiliation by starting a lengthy winning streak in Serie A without giving up a goal.
With more than a third of the season remaining, Juventus, who had an eight-game unbeaten streak prior to that, are not only still in Europe but have also advanced to the Coppa Italia semifinals. They are currently ranked sixth in Serie A.
The two-time European champions may have fallen in the standings on the continent, and off-field incidents still cloud the club’s reputation, but they had only dropped one of their previous 16 Europa League games before bringing Freiburg to Turin.
Freiburg Preview
Freiburg will play Juventus for the first time this week at the Allianz Stadium, and it will be their first competitive confrontation with an Italian foe. Freiburg is not used to midweek nights under the bright lights of Europe.
The Black Forest club has only sometimes participated in the UEFA Cup or Europa League, but is now having its finest run this season. They were one of just three clubs to go undefeated through the group stage, winning four times in the process.
No another unbeaten team, Real Sociedad, has given up less goals than Freiburg’s three thus far. Furthermore, Freiburg ended Group G comfortably ahead of Juve’s victims Nantes in the fall.
They have only lost five games this season under unconventional coach Christian Streich, who has been in charge since 2011, and only two goals have not been scored in their past 17 games, including Saturday’s draw with Borussia Monchengladbach.
1×2 Betting Odds
Let’s begin analysing the 1×2 market
Juventus hasn’t claimed a European championship since 1996, and with recent club events in mind, they have plenty to prove. The Bianconeri can take a lead with them to Germany next week even if Freiburg are far from easy opponents.
This is because they have far more individual quality and experience at this level than Freiburg have.
So keeping all of that in mind, it is Juventus who are the favourites in this @ 1.74.
The away side is not given much of a chance, with odds standing @ 6.00.
The market odds of a stalemate and points shared between the two, stands @ 3.99.
Total goals over/under
Let’s check the over/under scenario
The odds that the total number of goals scored will be over 2.5, stands @ 2.23.
While the odds that the total number of goals will be under 2.5, stands @ 1.79.
The market expects a low scoring game in the first battle between the two. Perhaps the market expects this one to be played with caution, but it also expects Juventus to do enough to take the lead!
