Juventus Betting preview

Juventus achieved their goal with Champions League

Juve have reached the European elite easier than expected, putting their name back among the biggest where they belong. Last season was marked by injuries, by the domination over the top clubs, but also by dropping points to weaker rivals, something that was never the case in the past. To be honest, the refs were also merciless with them. Hadn't it been for that, we are sure they would've been fighting for title. To win a title in Italy you must win against the small teams and Juventus know that. Nevertheless, they still failed to do it when it was least expected. Although the third seat was a satisfying result, the fans are hoping to see some real title race this season. The club had a disastrous transfer campaign last year, apart from Sissoko and partially Iaquinta, highly paid signings have failed so Ranieri had to rely on the old forces since the era of Capello and Lippi. Namely, team's engine, Buffon, Nedved, Del Piero, Camoranesi and Trezeguet was working hard during the entire season…the so called Senators were lucky to have played only one game a week, without responsibilities in Europe, and were able to preserve their strength. Things will be different now so the fans fear since they have done nothing reassuring with the transfers.

Juve bought unnecessary players

It is unbelievable how sport manager, Secco, is an incomplete personality. At first, he was talking about some unreal plans mentioning Lampard, then the club missed its chance to snap Van der Vaart last winter, only to end up the campaign by buying players for their already strongly filled positions. We could start with Amauri who was heftily paid for, but he came to one of the best attacks in the world with Del Piero, Trezeguet and their excellent alternative, Iaquinta…with Amauri on board, it gets us to the number of even 70 goals scored by those four. It is just that two of them can play while the money spent for Amauri could've been used to solve defense problems. Juventus' defense performed pretty bad last season. True, Melberg did arrive on free transfer but Swede skipper have never been in such a great club before. It is also amazing that, after Tiago failed to fit in, the club did nothing to bring another creative midfielder or playmaker…the entire summer was spent talking to Xabi Alonso who stayed with Liverpool, while excellent fighter, Paulsen, has put on the Juve shirt. It is just that Juve is filled with Paulsen-like players. The return of super talented Giovinco and two other youngsters, De Ceglie and Marchisio is the encouragement, but it still insufficient for championship ambitions. The incompetence to attract top stars and bad judgment when assessing the players to come will be crucial moves for the season and title dreams. It is a public secret that Ranieri is not asked when buying a player, and on top of all, a lot of fans believe he is not a type of a coach to answer to the demands of such a great club. Last year's achievement will be regared a failure this season…Juventus are dreaming of the top, but if things go wrong, they will go down in flames.

In

Amauri(Palermo), Poulsen(Sevilla), Kneževic(Livorno), Mellberg(Aston Villa), Manninger(Siena), Ekdal(Bromapojkarna), Chimenti (Udinese), Giovinco, Marchisio (Empoli), De Ceglie(Siena)

Out

Nocerino, Almiron, Palladino, Stendardo

Our tip

We are skeptical regarding Juventus' title chances…the team will depend upon the irreplaceable, Del Piero and Nedved, two great players getting more and more burdened by their age…two games a week could be of great influence on Juve's performances. The objective analysis demonstrates that the quality is not divided equally. With the best goalie in the world, Buffon, and the best striker partnership in Europe, Juve still have problems with defense and wings, with the constant fear that Nedved will not last in the middle depriving hid team of great deal of creativity. There is no replacement for Czech, it was evident last year when Ranieri's choice, Palladino, failed to replace him properly. It simply wasn't his position. At the end, Palladino even left the club. The manager is claiming to try similar with Giovinco who is probably the most talented player in Italy ever since Del Piero emerged. Exactly he could become a proper replacement for the skipper in the future, but it is hard to see him adapt to left-midfielder position. Key defender and Ranieri's irreplaceable, Chiellini got injured after a friendly with Milan…this will be a burden for Juve's defense in the first two months this season. We believe that bianconeri can compete for top four, they are weaker than Milan and Inter, maybe even than Roma and Fiorentina, but Juventus are always filled with the incredible winning spirit, they won a lot of games with heart and courage, so they shouldn't be discarded from Champions League race so easily. However, if this team gets ruled out from CL early, their chances in the home league will rise, but we honestly believe they are far away from title race.

Our tip: Trezeguet to score more than Ibrahimovic 1.72
Odds 1.90
Bookmaker: Bet365