Unbeaten Benfica and a struggling Juventus meet at Estadio da Luz on Tuesday, with one side seeking a pass to the knockout round and the other scrapping for Champions League survival.
The visitors travel to Lisbon on the brink of elimination after losing to Maccabi Haifa last time out, leaving them five points adrify of the top two in Group H, while the hosts will secure progress with a win on Tuesday.
Succesive 1-1 draw with PSG have not only left Benfica on the verge of making it through to the Champions League knockout rounds again, but also established them as a potential team to be wary of in the last 16.
Benfica extended their unbeaten start to the season to 17 matches by holding PSG in the French capital. Having already won 2-1 in Turin on Group H’s second matchday, they are now favourites to finish the job back on home turf.
They have since taken their unbeaten run to 19 after turning over Primeira Liga title rivals Porto on Friday. That followed a shootout victory over third-tier Caldas in the Taca de Portugal a week earlier.
Juventus have won just one of their seven European matches against Benfica following last month’s defeat in Turin, when they squandered an early advantage to go down 2-1.
I Bianconeri than went on to defeat Maccabi Haifa at home but suffered a 2-0 defeat in Israel last time out by a club that had lost each of their last nine group-stage matches.
As a result of their fourth defeat from six among Europe’s elite, Max Allegri’s side will be unable to reach the last 16 if they fail to win on Tuesday. The could still finish third and reach the Europa League should they lose, but Allegri knows that fate is unacceptable.
Benfica vs Juventus head to head
These two teams have previously met on five occasions across all competitions, where Benfica have claimed two victories while Juventus have won one, and they have drawn in two. Benfica have scored six goals and conceded four. In their last meeting, Benfica won 2-1 away in the Champions League.
Juventus 1-1 Benfica 01/08/12
Benfica 2-1 Juventus 24/04/14
Juventus 0-0 Benfica 01/05/14
Benfica 1-1(P) Juventus 28/07/18
Juventus 1-2 Benfica 14/09/22
Benfica latest home form
Benfica have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their 13 most recent matches. They managed to defeat Rio Ave 4-2 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 14 goals and conceded just four.
Benfica 2-1 Vizela 02/09/22
Benfica 2-0 Maccabi Haifa 06/09/22
Benfica 5-0 Maritimo 18/09/22
Benfica 1-1 PSG 05/10/22
Benfica 4-2 Rio Ave 08/10/22
Benfica latest away form
Benfica have recently been on a good run of form on the road, as they have been unbeaten in their 15 most recent matches. They managed to defeat Porto 1-0 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded three.
Juventus 1-2 Benfica 14/09/22
Vitoria Guimaraes 0-0 Benfica 01/10/22
PSG 1-1 Benfica 11/10/22
Caldas 1-1(P) Benfica 15/10/22
Porto 0-1 Benfica 21/10/22
Juventus latest home form
Juventus have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have won each of their three most recent matches. They managed to defeat Empoli 4-0 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 13 goals and conceded five.
Juventus 2-2 Salernitana 11/09/22
Juventus 1-2 Benfica 14/09/22
Juventus 3-0 Bologna 02/10/22
Juventus 3-1 Maccabi Haifa 05/10/22
Juventus 4-0 Empoli 21/10/22
Juventus latest away form
Juventus managed to defeat Torino 1-0 in their last away game in the league. However, they have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having been winless in their previous 11 games. In their last five matches, they have scored two goals and conceded seven.
PSG 2-1 Juventus 06/09/22
Monza 1-0 Juventus 18/09/22
AC Milan 2-0 Juventus 08/10/22
Maccabi Haifa 2-0 Juventus 11/10/22
Torino 0-1 Juventus 15/10/22
Benfica news
Morato remains out of action for Benfica due to injury, and Julian Draxler joins him on the sidelines following a thigh injury sustained against Porto.
Alejandro Grimaldo will start on the left of the hosts’ back four, while Gilberto and Alexander Bah battle it out for a spot on the right.
Juventus news
Juventus will once again be without former Benfica star Angel Di Maria, while Leandro Paredes is now out until next month with a thigh injury suffered aganst Empoli.
Both Federico Chiesa and Paul Pogba are nearing returns but will not be risked just yet, so Moise Kean and Weston McKennie hope to keep their spots.
Prediction and Odds
These two teams head into the contest having endured very different campaigns so far, with Benfica flying high while Juventus have significantly slowed.
However, we believe that an experienced Juve are capable of grinding out a draw, though that will not be enough to stay in the mix for a top-two finish.
Odds: 1 2.30 X 2.05 2 3.01
Probable outcomes
Benfica 0-0 Juventus
Benfica 1-1 Juventus
Benfica 2-2 Juventus
Benfica 1-0 Juventus
Benfica 2-1 Juventus