Juventus and Benfica should both settle for a draw.
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Juventus have lost just one of their league phase games in the new 2024/25 Champions League format. Meanwhile, Thursday’s opponents, Benfica, have ten points from seven games. Both teams have a good chance of reaching the knockout stage.
Juventus lost their unbeaten Serie A record this season with a 2-1 loss to Napoli at the weekend. Thiago Motta’s men have been incredibly resilient this season, with a structured style of play that has conceded few goals.
However, they have been affected at the other end of the pitch recently. Dusan Vlahovic has been dealing with injury issues, with Nicolas Gonzalez having to step in as a makeshift striker. New loan striker Randal Kolo Muani is unavailable to play against Benfica as he’s cup-tied after playing for PSG earlier in the campaign.
Meanwhile, Benfica come into this clash following a shocking 3-1 defeat to Casa Pia in Liga Portugal, which handed the title initiative to Sporting. This game is crucial for Bruno Lage’s men to keep their season on track.
Benfica will also be without their forward Arthur Cabral. He was sent off in the closing stages of As Aguias’ 5-4 home defeat at the hands of Barcelona last week.
The probable lineup for Juventus in 4-2-3-1:
Di Gregorio; Savona, Cambiaso, Gatti, Kalulu, Locatelli, Thuram, Weah, Mbangula, Koopmeiners, Gonzalez
The probable lineup for Benfica in 4-3-3:
Trubin; Araujo, Carreras, Silva, Otamendi, Aursnes, Luis, Kokcu, Akturkoglu, Schjelderup, Pavlidis
Juventus know that a win is imperative if they are to avoid being an unseeded team in the knockout playoffs. However, they have lost just once in the Champions League league phase, so they’ll be confident of overcoming any seeded team regardless.
Benfica are two points better off than 25th-placed Manchester City and 26th-placed Dinamo Zagreb. Therefore, a point in Turin should be enough to keep them out of the elimination places, given their positive goal difference.
Historically, Juve have never managed to defeat Benfica in a competitive European game, drawing two and losing three of their five meetings. As a draw suits Benfica and Juve are still in decent shape to progress with a point, our Juventus vs Benfica predictions indicate a stalemate seems like the most likely outcome.
With three wins, three draws and just one defeat, Juventus have enjoyed a controlled campaign so far. They have conceded just five goals in seven games. This is not surprising considering their domestic form has seen them lose just once in 22 games.
Thiago Motta’s tactical approach has been successful in the Champions League, even though Juve have drawn too many games in Serie A this season.
Only five goals have been scored in Juve’s last five Champions League games, so it’s difficult to envision a fast-paced, high-scoring game on Thursday. Although Benfica were involved in a 5-4 defeat at home to Barcelona last week, Barca’s attack is one of the most potent in Europe right now, so it’s not the best benchmark.
Although we expect both teams to score in a tight 1-1 draw, our Juventus vs Benfica predictions indicate it may be worth hedging against this by backing both teams to score (no) too. Given Juventus’ ultra-tight defence, there’s also a good possibility that the hosts could prevent Benfica’s forward line from scoring.
Backing BTTS (no) would cover a goalless draw. Since 0-0 has been the result in two of Juve’s last three Champions League games and one of Benfica’s last three Champions league games, this could be an alternative outcome if it suits both sides.
This would also provide coverage in case Juventus were to dominate the game and secure a comfortable win while keeping a clean sheet.