Italian Serie A
2008-04-12 - Juventus F.C vs A.C Milan
A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser
Analysis:Between these two teams they have dominated Serie A in the past when they have won 13 of the last 16 Serie A titles. They have not met last season as Juventus was relegated to Serie B after the match fixing scandal which also caused a number of their stars to leave the club. But now they are back and seems likely to settle for third spot after missing on top flight football for a year.
Interestingly Juventus have not won when these two sides met for over five years as their last win was in December 2002 when they won 2-1. Since then they lost 3-1 and two other matches ended in draws.
The Old Lady of Turin can forget about winning the Scudetto title after last week’s 3-2 defeat to Palermo and being in third spot they still need to be wary of Fiorentina who are just two points behind them. As for A.C Milan they are still some four points away from playing in the Champions League and now face stiff competition from Sampdoria as well as Udinese if they are to play in the UEFA Cup even. That is how close a place in to play in Europe is at the moment.
But while Juventus was beaten last weekend, A.C Milan celebrated the return of Kaka with a 3-1 win over Cagliari last weekend. Kaka and Pippo Inzaghi return was timely and it helped the squad a great deal. Zeljko Kalac is likely to make way for Alessandro Del Piero who scored two goals in Sicily.
Pavel Nedved despite being treated after a horrific clash of heads with Palermo’s Roberto Guana, will likely be able to play after all as his injury is not as bad as it was feared. But if he is rested then we should see the likes of Hasan Salihamidzic come into the starting eleven alongside Tiago Mendes as well as combining with the impressive Momo Sissoko. They are without Cristiano Zanetti and Jorge Andrade who remains out injured while Zdenek Grygera is likely to start this match ahead of Jonathan Zebina in defence.
As for Carlo Ancelotti who once managed Juventus before has more problems than he would have had liked coming into this match. He will miss the services of Alessandro Nesta and Kakha Kaladze who are serving suspensions, while Massimo Oddo, Marek Jankulovski, Giuseppe Favalli, Emerson and Ronaldo are all out on the injured list. So, he will have no choice but to rely on the aging players in the side who are Marcos Cafu and Serginho in a 4-4-2 formation. Also out in the injury list is youngster Alexander Pato with a muscle strain that he sustained last week and he is not fully recovered yet. That means Ancelotti will rely on Inzaghi who scored two goals last week upfront together with Brazilian Kaka.
I am going for this match to end in a draw even though Milan’s last away draw was against Catania on the 27th February which incidentally the same time which Juventus last draw against Torino at home in a derby match.
Cheers and good luck,
Cruiser
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Draw Match 1-1 or 2-2
BEST BETTING TIP :
Go for this match to end in a draw.
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take A.C Milan and accept the 1/4 ball here.
