Champions League
2021-12-08 - Juventus vs Malmo
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League Group Stage
Wednesday 8th December 2021 - Kick Off 5:45pm
This game is live on TV
Juventus
The heavy loss at Stamford Bridge has put Juventus is a difficult position in this Group, but the team cannot worry about anything other than winning this game. Bettering Chelsea's result on the same night would mean Juventus can win the Group, but regardless, this is a big game for the team to keep the momentum going as they look to close on the top four domestically.
It has been a difficult season back home and there are off field issues which are impacting Juventus, but they have been in control in the Champions League and have comfortably progressed to the Last 16. They may be behind Chelsea going into Match Day 6, but the Old Lady of Italian Football have won 4 of their 5 Champions League games this season.
Juventus have struggled for consistency, but they have won 5 of their last 7 games in all competitions, including back to back wins over Salernitana and Genoa. They have won 3 of their last 4 games in front of their own fans, although the exception saw Juventus go down to a 0-1 defeat to Atalanta.
A number of players are missing for Juventus, including Federico Chiesa.
Malmo
Goal difference proved to be the key for Malmo as they celebrated winning the Swedish title this past weekend and they will be returning to the Champions League Qualifiers next season. They worked their way through to the Group Stage, but Malmo have had a difficult time in this section and they are heading out of European competition following this fixture.
The draw with Zenit St Petersburg on Match Day 5 has ended Malmo's chances of finishing in the top three in this Group, but that result meant ending a run of 5 consecutive defeats in the Champions League. They had failed to score in any of their first 4 Group games this season, but Malmo at least changed the narrative around that stat even if they were not quite able to secure the three points.
Malmo are unbeaten in 5 games in all competitions, but they have drawn 3 of their last 4 ahead of this fixture. Since losing 4-0 at Chelsea, Malmo are unbeaten in 4 away games in all competitions and they have won 3 in a row on their travels.
A strong team can be selected by Malmo as they look to round off their Champions League campaign with the best result in the section.
Head to Head
Three first half goals were enough for Juventus to secure a 0-3 win at Malmo earlier in the Group.
Their sole previous meeting in Turin came in the 2014/15 Champions League and was won 2-0 by Juventus.
Prediction
Winning the Champions League Group will not be something that will be determined by the Juventus result on Wednesday, but the Italian giants will be looking for three points to try and put the pressure on Chelsea.
The squad is stretched and that means there are unlikely to be wholesale changes and Juventus have won 5 of their last 7 games in all competitions.
Back to back 2-0 wins will have given Juventus some confidence, while they are facing a Malmo team that have been eliminated and could have spent the last few days celebrating another Swedish title. Playing at Juventus will be motivation for the Malmo players, but they have struggled to compete at this level and that has been clear from the underlying numbers.
Malmo have not really been able to create a lot in the final third and I think Juventus should be largely in control of the match.
With back to back wins behind them, Juventus can keep the momentum going with a comfortable win on Wednesday. They are most likely to produce a clean sheet with the victory and then attention will turn to the result in St Petersburg.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Juventus 2-0 Malmo
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Juventus Win to Nil at 1.80 with BetVictor
