Champions League
2012-09-19 - Chelsea vs Juventus
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: European Champions League
Wednesday 19 September 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV
Chelsea
Chelsea get to open up the defence of their Champions League trophy at home on Wednesday night and I expect Stamford Bridge will be rocking after a positive start to their Premier League campaign too. The Group could become awkward if Chelsea are not fully focused as both Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk will feel they can also find a way into the last 16 this season.
After four games, Chelsea lead the Premier League with 10 points, although the challengers are lining up behind them with Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City immediately below them in the table. They have failed to win their last 2 games in all competitions, including a 4-1 loss to Atletico Madrid in the European Super Cup.
The team have won 7 of their last 8 home games in all competitions, including both so far this season and they have only lost 1 of their last 16 at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea won all 6 home games in the Champions League last season and they are now 9-1-1 here over the last two seasons.
Roberto Di Matteo does not have any new injury worries ahead of this game.
Juventus
The Old Lady of Italian Football once again returned to the top throne as Juventus won the Serie A title for the first time since 2003 and since the match-fixing scandal that saw a couple of titles stripped from them and saw the team relegated to Serie B.
This will be the first appearance for Juventus in the Champions League since 2009 when they failed to make it out of the Group Stage. They are likely to be fighting with Shakhtar Donetsk for the second qualifying spot, but their recent form in Italy suggests they could push for top spot. The side have won all 3 Serie A games they have played this season and also won the Italian Super Cup in extra time.
Juventus were knocked out of the Group Stage in 2009 when they lost their final 2 Group games and they had won just 2 of their last 10 games in this competition. However, they will want to achieve more than that having been unbeaten in Serie A all of last season.
Lucio will be missing for the Italian side in this game.
Head to Head
These two teams have only met twice previously, that coming in the 2009 Champions League Second Round.
On that occasion, Chelsea beat Juventus 1-0 at Stamford Bridge before a 2-2 draw in Turin.
Prediction
I don't like under-estimating the Italian Champions, but Serie A is not the League it was a few years ago while Juventus have had little experience of playing in the top competitions in Europe in recent seasons and that may ultimately be their downfall in this match.
Chelsea have been playing well in the Premier League, even if they have been a touch fortunate in a couple of games, but I think their flair players will enjoy the extra space that comes with Champions League games.
They have been very good at Stamford Bridge over the last couple of seasons and they are facing a team that has struggled in their recent visits to England. Juventus have lost 8 of their last 10 games in England, while they have drawn the other 2, and they are not the same team that used to regularly give Manchester United a hard time in the mid-90s.
I was pleased to see the home side priced at odds against in this one and I do like the offer so I will pick them to win this game. I think it could be a tight one, but Chelsea's extra experience may just see them through by the odd goal margin.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Chelsea 2-1 Juventus
