Coppa Italia: Milan vs. Juventus Preview, Odds and Predictions

The game which draws enormous attention among the soccer fans takes place at San Siro this Thursday. AC Milan awaits Juventus in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals. No matter the current difference in quality, it is still one of the biggest matches in Europe. Two powerhouses whose mark on the continental soccer is eternal.

Preview

AC Milan (+250) is the underdog, even though playing in front of its own fans. They posted excellent results since Zlatan Ibrahimovic landed in town, but the last game definitely blew out their morale. Rossoneri had a 2-0 lead against Inter in Derby Della Madonnina this Sunday. However, Stefano Pioli’s side allowed four goals in the second 45 minutes, experiencing a knockout that will hurt for a long, long time. AC Milan had a stretch of five straight wins before playing 1-1 against Hellas Verona at home and losing to Inter. Coppa Italia is their only way to save the season, and they are aware that these two matches against the Old Lady are a matter of “death or life” for them. Four of Milan’s previous five contests finished with both teams to score.

Juventus (+105) received a hard slap in the face against Hellas Verona last weekend, losing 2-1 against an underdog. After this match, Maurizio Sarri’s side lost the edge over Inter and is now trailing the top spot with Nerazzurri. Instead of increasing the advantage over the biggest rivals in this title race, Juventus dropped several points. It is because of this that the rumors about Sarri’s premature departure appeared all over the media and that Massimiliano Allegri’s comeback became an option. The last 10 games of the Old Lady ended with three or more goals, and in four of the previous five, both teams have scored.

Latest News

Leo Duarte and Rade Krunic are out, but they were also injured before.

Juventus has several players who aren’t able to play – Danilo, Douglas Costa, Frederico Bernardeschi, Merih Demira, and Sami Khedira.

Head to Head Games

Believe it or not, Juventus has 9 straight wins over Rossoneri. It is a very big deal having in mind that AC Milan has an enormously rich history and that they consider the Old Lady as one of the most hated enemies. In three of the last four matches at home, Milan didn’t even score.

Prediction

First of all, we have to remind you that this matchup has two games, and that changes a lot of things when talking about the tactics and the strategy. The Italians are masterfull when needing to play on the result. AC Milan can’t enter an open exchange with Juventus, as they lack the offensive capacity for something like that. Because of that , be sure that Pioli prepares a tough, and defensive-minded approach for this contest. Even though Juve has a much better team, and is motivated to erase the catastrophe against Verona, they won’t be able to impose the tempo planned for this event. Because of that, under 2.5 goals is our suggestion. The odds on that are -125, and we do believe that it is the most realistic pick for this derby.

Pick: Under 2.5 goals  -125