Champions League
2020-10-20 - Dynamo Kiev vs Juventus
A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser
Football: UEFA Champions League
20th October 2020 – Kickoff time 18:55 [Kiev, Ukraine]
Introduction:
It has been 24 years since Juventus won the Champions League and they will now start their quest to win the title that has eluded them when they make the trip to Kiev to face Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday evening.
Juventus did reached the Champions League final in 2017, but were no match for a Real Madrid squad led by Cristiano Ronaldo who is now turning out for the Italian champions. However Ronaldo will not play in this match after he tested positive for the coronavirus and as a result will undergo quarantine as well as recovery.
Meanwhile, Dynamo Kiev reached the group stage of the competition after beating Gent in a play-off.
Dynamo Kiev
Dynamo Kiev are still the most successful team in Ukraine, despite bitter rivals Shakhtar Donetsk’s recent dominance. They have 15 championships to their name and currently lead the domestic league standings. They are now under the guidance of Mircea Lucescu who became their coach at the end of July. Interestingly, he led Shakhtar to eight titles and his appointment so his appointment did not go down too well with those in the Shakhtar camp.
Luseco has had a good start winning seven of his first nine matches in charge, but now he faces toughest test yet as Dynamo manager. Now he is likely to give Benjamin Verbic with unsettling the Juventus backline and the Slovenian is their main threat to get the goals. Former Middlesbrough winger Carlos de Pena is their other option and already has scored two goals this season.
The player to watch for them will be Viktor Tsyhankov. Last season he scored 17 goals for the club and considering that he was playing as a role of a midfielder it was actually a very good feat indeed. At one time he was on the radar of English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, and he recently impressed when he got the winner in the Nations League clash with Spain recently.
In their last three matches, they beat beat Gent 3-0 and drew with Zorya 1-1. On Saturday Dynamo beat Rukh Vynnyky by 2-0.
Juventus
Juventus will have to make changes to their side after Ronaldo and Weston McKennie contracted COVID-19 and will not be part of their teams for the next 6 to 7 matches to come. The absence of Ronaldo will be their biggest loss but on the other hand it will now give a chance for Alvaro Morata, Federico Chiesa, Paulo Dybala and Dejan Kulusevski to shine and prove their worth to Andrea Pirlo as the action domestically and in europe comes hard and fast.
One thing is for certain and that is Pirlo will not start all his strikers mentioned above. One player likely to start will be Morata who will lead the attack. Morata returned to Turin late in the summer transfer window and will hope to play a crucial role here. Then there is also Dybala who will hope to play an important role in the absence of Ronaldo. The Argentine may only be in his mid-twenties but no doubt plays an important role at the club and will hope to repay the faith shown in him by his team mates and boss Pirlo.
The player to watch here will be Chiesa. He has been brought in to play down the right flank and will hope to contribute to the side. He has vast experience playing for Fiorentina previously.
In their last three matches they drew with Roma 2-2 and beat Napoli 3-0. On Saturday night they were held by Crotone 1-1.
Past Meetings
The last time they met was back in 2002 and then Juventus came from behind to collect all three points in the Group E contest. Then Salas and Zalayeta scored to cancel out Maksim Shatskikh’s opening goal.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Dynamo Kiev 1-2 Juventus
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Juventus -1/2 AH at 1.86 with BetVictor
