Juventus vs Zenit St Petersburg Betting Pick | Champions League

Champions League

2021-11-02 - Juventus vs Zenit St Petersburg

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Juventus v Zenit St Petersburg
Football: European Champions League Group Stage
Tuesday 2nd November 2021 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

Juventus

Massimiliano Allegri had been linked with a number of other clubs around Europe during his two year break from management, but his decision was to return to Juventus who had lost their grip at the top of Serie A. The early weeks under their former manager have not gone as well as Juventus would have liked, but they are on course to return to the Champions League Knock Out Rounds and a win on Tuesday will confirm progress.

Three wins from three matches have pushed Juventus to the top of the section and another victory on Match Day 4 will mean the Old Lady of Italian Football have confirmed passage to the Last 16. Winning the Group could be important to avoid some of the top clubs in the competition in the next Round and Juventus have an opportunity to secure top spot before Match Day 6. The side have won 8 of their last 9 home games in the Champions League in normal time.

Juventus have not won any of their last 3 games since beating Zenit St Petersburg on Match Day 3 and they have suffered back to back 2-1 losses to Sassuolo and Verona. They had previously won 4 in a row at home before the surprising loss to Sassuolo.

Aaron Ramsey, Mattia De Sciglio and Moise Kean have been ruled out by the manager. Both Matthijs de Ligt and Federico Chiesa could be available for selection.

Zenit St Petersburg

A truly disappointing Champions League Group Stage appearance saw Zenit St Petersburg fail to even drop into the Europa League last season, but that has to be the minimum of expectation for the Russian Champions. Once again they look to be the team to beat domestically, while Zenit St Petersburg earned a huge win over Malmo earlier in this Group which puts them in pole position to finish at least third.

There will still be some hope that Zenit St Petersburg can finish in the top two in this section, but the home defeat to Juventus two weeks ago has put them in a tough position. This is an important game for the team to try and get back on track, but Zenit St Petersburg have lost 8 of their last 9 away Champions League games, including the last 6 in a row.

Zenit St Petersburg had lost 3 in a row in all competitions, but they have bounced back by beating Spartak Moscow and Dinamo Moscow at home. It has been much tougher for Zenit away from home and they have won 1 of their last 5 on their travels, while they have been beaten in 2 of their last 3 away from home in all competitions.

Douglas Santos is expected to miss out.

Head to Head

A late goal was enough for Juventus to earn a deserved win in Russia two weeks ago.

These clubs met in the 2008/09 Champions League Group Stage and Juventus were able to secure a narrow 1-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg in Turin.

Prediction

It is not easy to trust Juventus in their current frame of mind, but they have shown their best form in the Champions League and they can bounce back from consecutive Italian League defeats.

In both losses to Sassuolo and Verona, Juventus have been able to create plenty of chances and it is lacklustre finishing that has held them back. You have to believe they can turn that around, although some fans might be wondering what could have been if they had been able to keep Cristiano Ronaldo around for another season.

Juventus have won all three Champions League games this season and they have kept clean sheets in each of those, which should provide the platform for another success on Match Day 4. They will create chances against a Zenit St Petersburg team who have long been a poor traveller in the Champions League and who will be looking to avoid a seventh away Champions League defeat in succession.

Zenit St Petersburg may feel there is nothing to lose for them here, but Juventus should be too strong for them. The Russian Champions did give Chelsea plenty to think about on Match Day 1 and so they have to be respected, but that is a rare positive performance from Zenit St Petersburg at this level.

Backing Juventus to win is not easy, but I do think they are capable if they can match the level of performance of recent games. Those have ended in defeats, but Juventus are creating chances and this Zenit St Petersburg team may not be able to hold out as Sassuolo and Verona have managed to do.

The Statistics :

JUVENTUS LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2021-09-29	W	1-0	H v Chelsea
	2021-03-09	W	3-2	H v Porto
	2020-12-02	W	3-0	H v Dynamo_Kyiv
	2020-11-24	W	2-1	H v Ferencvaros
	2020-10-28	L	0-2	H v Barcelona
	2019-11-26	W	1-0	H v Atletico_Madrid

ZENIT_ST_PETERSBURG LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2021-09-14	L	1-0	A v Chelsea
	2020-12-02	L	3-0	A v Club_Brugge
	2020-11-24	L	3-1	A v Lazio
	2020-10-28	L	2-0	A v Dortmund
	2019-12-10	L	3-0	A v Benfica
	2019-10-23	L	2-1	A v RB_Leipzig