Fulham v Juventus: Betting Preview & Tips

Fulham v Juventus

Juventus have been craven in the recent past, but have not been to Fulham before. Betfair’s Tobias Gourlay looks at whether the Londoners can come back from their heaviest European defeat ever in the first leg.

Juventus come to Southwest London with a 3-1 lead from last week’s last-16 first leg and a 1.19 chance of qualifying for the next round of the Europa League. The Italian side’s new manager, Alberto Zaccheroni, knew about Roy Hodgson from the Englishman’s time working in Serie A and made sure his charges did not underestimate a club with almost no European history.

A couple of members of his squad have told the press this week that it would be too risky to play for a draw at Craven Cottage, and Zaccheroni, who made his name playing three at the back with Udinese and AC Milan, might agree, even though his team squandered a three-goal lead at home to bottom-of-the-table Siena at the weekend, undermining the confidence rebuilt since Ciro Ferrara’s sacking at the end of January and encouraging players to think a two-goal lead is not a decisive advantage to take to Fulham.

Both teams have scored in six of Juventus’s seven away games in all competitions in 2010, but the Old Lady has been chasing victories in those games. She’d be quite happy with a draw in this one (3.55), even if she says she won’t be playing for it, and it would slightly improve a surprisingly poor W2-D4-L11 record on English soil (remember, though, that many of those games were played at the highest level of European competition) and slightly worsen Fulham’s W9-D4-L0 record in European home games.

The Cottagers, who have beaten Manchester United and Liverpool at home this season but are on a five-game winless streak in all competitions, are 2.4 favourites to win on Thursday evening, and might be helped by the absence through injury of Gigi Buffon and Alex Manninger, Juve’s first- and second-choice goalkeepers. The Bianconeri are also without three important defenders – Legrottaglie, Chiellini and Caceres – so Zaccheroni will likely have to move Jonathan Zebina into the centre of defence. And if he sticks with the 4-3-1-2 formation he’s favoured to this point in his Juve career, Over 2.5 Goals at 2.08 might still be the best bet, just ahead of Fulham -0&-0.5 at 2.02 on the Asian Handicap.

• Recommended Bet: Back Over 2.5 Goals at 2.08

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