The Europa League is gaining momentum this week as we come closer to the end of the quarter-finals. This week we will witness the second leg of the quarter-finals of the tournament. Sporting will be hosting Juventus on Friday at Estadio Jose Alvalade. The first leg was unpredictably thrilling as Juventus gained an edge over the hosts by 1-0.
Sporting shocked everyone by defeating Arsenal to qualify for the quarter-finals and now they will have to repeat their performance to overpower Juventus in the 2nd leg.
Juventus came out on top in the first leg but the Serie A giants will be well aware that the job is not done yet and their opposition can still bounce back to qualify for the semi finals.
We expect a good start from Sporting, but a win from Juventus.
The betting tip is...
Juventus to win the match.
Sporting has come out on top recently as they made headlines after defeating Arsenal through a penalty shootout.
However, the first leg was not as good as was expected for the visitors, but they still have a chance to make it to the next round. Sporting witnessed a draw in their last fixture against Arouca by 1-1. To qualify for the next round, Sporting will have to be aggressive from the first minute.
Francisco Trincao will be the key player to watch out for in the upcoming fixture.
Predicted Lineup: Antonio Adan; Ousmane Diomande, Sebastian Coates, Jerry St. Juste; Ricardo Esgaio, Pedro Goncalves, Hidemasa Morita, Matheus Reis; Marcus Edwards, Youssef Chermiti, Francisco Trincao
Juventus made a commendable comeback in this year’s season even after going through a rough patch initially and struggling with financial allegations.
However, the team management will be concerned with the inconsistency the players have shown in recent times.
Before coming for the 2nd leg, Juventus witnessed a Serie A loss against Sassuolo by 1-0. The Zebre are also focusing on saving a space for themselves in next year’s European competition.
Angel di Maria will be in the spotlight again as he has done wonders with Juventus.
Predicted Lineup: Wojciech Szczesny; Danilo, Gleison Bremer, Alex Sandro; Juan Cuadrado, Nicolo Fagioli, Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot, Filip Kostic; Angel Di Maria; Dusan Vlahovic.
Sporting has shown inconsistency in recent times and the players look lost whenever they play under pressure.
We predict a small win by Juventus in the 2nd leg of the Europa League quarter-final, reserving themselves a spot for the semi finals.
