Juventus vs Torino
Italian league leaders Juventus host neighbours Torino on Saturday afternoon… but there will be no tea party in Turin.
Maurizio Sarri’s Bianconeri are on target for a ninth successive Scudetto and are looking for a fourth consecutive victory, and they will have no sympathy for local rivals Torino, who still have work to do to guarantee their place in Serie A for the 2020/21 season.
It looks like a mismatch between two teams separated by a gulf in class, and even the derby day atmosphere won’t help Torino as they face the champions behind closed doors.
Talking Points
Three big weeks for Old Lady
Atalanta’s win over Lazio last week gave the latest Serie A 2020 betting odds a sharp shove in the direction of Juventus, and despite Simone Inzaghi’s chasers winning their last two, against Fiorentina and Torino, the Old Lady goes into the weekend with a healthy four point lead.
Lazio has a tough home game against Milan this weekend and anything other than a win could hand the title to Juve. I don’t expect the hosts to falter so, equally, Juventus need to keep the pressure on against Torino. Over the next three weeks I Bianconeri face three top teams, Milan, fourth placed Atalanta and then Lazio. If they navigate that run, the Scudetto will be in the bag.
Sarri’s men returned from lockdown with a disappointing penalty shootout loss to Napoli in the Coppa Italia final, but have responded well with three victories in the league, against Bologna, Lecce and recently against Genoa where Cristiano Ronaldo scored a long distance pile driver in a 3-1 win, his 24th league goal of the season.
The Old Lady still has eyes on a European crown with a second leg Round of 16 tie against Lyon to navigate, but in the meantime Sarri will continue to shuffle his pack in the league, with likely return to action of Aaran Ramsay and Blaise Matuidi.
Il Toro inching to safety
While Juventus heads towards another league title, Torino’s new boss Moreno Longo has plenty of work to do to ensure his side stays in the top flight. They are still not out of the woods, six points clear of the bottom three but having played a game more than most of their rivals; and the Torino fans will be watching the Serie A 2020 updates from around Italy with some trepidation as 18th placed Lecce has a winnable game against Sassuolo this weekend.
In Andrea Belotti Torino have a natural leader; he’s in Serie A’s top ten goal scorers list this season with 12, and his goals should see Il Toro ultimately safe.
He scored an early spot kick to give his side a 1-0 lead over Lazio but they eventually lost 1-2, though pushing the second placed side so close should give the derby underdogs some confidence.
Longo was drafted in to replace the sacked Walter Mazzarri in February but he picked up a team on a dreadful run and he has struggled to turn it around. His side has now lost eight in ten league games, though they returned to action with four points from a draw with Parma and a 1-0 win against Udinese, but back-to-back defeats have left Il Toro in jeopardy.
I don’t hold out much hope of Torino avoiding a third consecutive loss.
History
This derby has been completely one-sided in recent years; Juventus have won 23 of the 33 meetings since 1993, with seven draws and just three victories for Torino and I Bianconeri have won nine of their last 11 matches against their neighbours. But there was a 1-1 draw here last season and only a late equaliser by Cristiano Ronaldo denied Torino a first away derby win in 24 years.
But Juve’s home record this season of 13 wins, one draw and no defeats, alongside Torino’s six away defeats on the run leads us to one conclusion.
Betting Tip
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Juventus vs Torino | Juventus Asian Handicap -1.50 @ 2.00 |
| July 4, 23:15 (GMT+8) |
Our latest SBOBET odds predict a home victory. No surprise there. I Bianconeri is at 1.30 to win, with the draw at 5.20 and the Torino win at 8.00.
And Juventus don’t tend to scrape through matches, winning six of the last seven by two goals or more, so that’s where I’m heading.
The most likely score line is 2-0 at odds of 5.40, but if you fancy a shock result and a repeat of Torino’s efforts last season at this venue…then 1-1 is at 9.60.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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