Football betting tips: Champions League
1pt Matheus Nunes 1+ assists at 8/1 (bet365)
BuildABet @ 30/1
- Matheus Nunes 1+ assists
- Manchester City 7+ corners
- Dusan Vlahovic 2+ shots on target
The Manchester City non-crisis period lasted less than a week.
Wednesday's 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest was followed up by a 2-2 draw away at Crystal Palace leaving them further behind in the Premier League title race.
The fortunes in Europe haven't been much better either with Pep Guardiola's side sat 17th in the Champions League table - the top eight qualify automatically for the round of 16.
The all-conquering Manchester City reduced to a shell of their former self.
In Juventus, they face another side in a troublesome run. A team who have drawn seven of their last nine with Torino and Udinese the only two beaten across this period.
It could then become a situation where the draw is a real possibility - an outcome that suits neither party.
What are the best bets?
I actually do hold some interest in Manchester City's price for victory but I'm not sure if that's due to the dominating recent history.
You don't become a bad team overnight and yet watching City now is far, far away from what we've seen in previous years. It's a side devoid of ideas and seemingly motivation.
I am happy to revisit a bet I've backed in the past though because the price remains. We're still getting 8/1 on MATHEUS NUNES 1+ ASSISTS despite his creativity.
Nunes is slightly odd in that he doesn't quite appear the usual style of City wide player and yet he's still featuring there. Not only that but he's making opportunities for others to score.
Starting out on the left against Palace, Nunes grabbed his third assist of the Premier League season with a significant total of four chances created.
In five league starts in that role, the Portugal international has created 12 chances - 10 of those being in the four away matches over this period.
The Champions League has continued the trend with two assists and five chances in two starts out on the left. What is a bonus for this pick is that he still delivered when featuring in his usual central midfield position.
Nunes created three chances for an assist in the 3-3 thriller with Feyenoord while there were two chances in their away win at Slovan Bratislava in October.
It's unclear where he'll start here but Guardiola and his team must surely be aware of this creative output. While this experiment may not be pretty on the eye, it shows it's working in a way.
City can notch a much-needed victory on Wednesday night with Nunes playing his part in the goals.
Team news
Juventus have spent the campaign battling with injuries but they have welcomed back a few players in recent weeks though.
Nicolas Gonzalez, Weston McKennie and Douglas Luiz are three who may still be missing for the hosts, while Juan Cabal and Bremer long-term absentees.
Guardiola will be hoping that he has Phil Foden available again after he missed the Palace game through illness.
Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji could both be missing after they were injured in the win over Forest last week.
John Stones and Mateo Kovacic are still sidelined. Rodri and Oscar Bobb being the duo out for the long-term.
Predicted line-ups
Juventus XI: Di Gregorio; Savona, Kalulu, Gatti, Danilo; Thuram, Locatelli; Yildiz, Koopmeiners, Conceicao; Vlahovic.
Manchester City XI: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; De Bruyne, Silva; Doku, Grealish, Nunes; Haaland.
Match facts
- Juventus and Manchester City have faced each other on six previous occasions in Europe. After losing their very first meeting in September 1976 (0-1 in the UEFA Cup), Juventus have gone unbeaten in each of the last five against the English side (W3 D2).
- Manchester City’s current winless run against Juventus is their joint-longest against an opponent in European competition (5), along with a five-game run against Barcelona between 2014 and 2016. However, this will be the first time Man City have faced Juventus during Pep Guardiola’s reign.
- Juventus have lost four of their last six home matches in the UEFA Champions League (W2), including their most recent one against Stuttgart (0-1 on MD3). This is as many defeats as they had suffered in their previous 40 home matches in the competition combined (4), between October 2013 and December 2021.
- Manchester City have conceded seven goals in their last two UEFA Champions League games (4 v Sporting CP and 3 v Feyenoord), after having kept a clean sheet in their first three this term. In his managerial career in the competition, Pep Guardiola has never seen his side concede more than twice in three consecutive matches (across all clubs).
- Juventus have drawn their last two games in the UEFA Champions League, playing out stalemates against Lille (1-1) and Aston Villa (0-0). The last time they drew three in a row in the competition was back in 2012-13, doing so in their first three games of that campaign under Antonio Conte.
- Across the first five matchdays this season, Juventus and Manchester City were two of the five teams with the longest average time of their sequences of play (in seconds), highlighting their elaborate styles in possession (17.2 for Manchester City and 14.1 for Juventus).
- Juventus’ opponents have recorded 62 high turnovers against them in the UEFA Champions League this season; the joint-most a team had against them through the first five matchdays (level with RB Salzburg). In addition, no side conceded more shots following an opposition high turnover in the same period (12, level with Young Boys).
- Manchester City’s Rico Lewis is the youngest player to have played every minute for his team in the UEFA Champions League this season (20y 20d on the day of this game). Across the opening five matchdays of the 2024-25 edition, he led all players aged under-21 for both chances created (13) and expected assists (2).
- Francisco Conceição has completed 18 dribbles in his four games in the UEFA Champions League this season. Indeed, his average of 5.2 completed dribbles per 90 is currently the highest by a Juventus player in a single campaign on record (since 2003-04, min. 300 minutes played).
- Matheus Nunes has assisted three goals in his last three UEFA Champions League appearances for Manchester City, and is the only player to assist more than once for Pep Guardiola’s side in the competition this term (3). In the opening five matchdays of 2024-25, he also had the joint-most big chances created of any player in the tournament (5 – level with Ángel Di María).
Odds correct at 1120 GMT (10/12/24)
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