Europa League: Will Juventus Beat Sevilla in Their Own Competition?

Juventus vs Sevilla

Juventus’ pursuit for their first major European trophy in more than two decades continues, as they’re set to host Sevilla this Thursday at the Allianz Stadium.

Juventus got this far by beating Sporting most recently in the quarter-finals, while Sevilla are here after defeating Manchester United in what was a huge upset.

Both Juventus and Sevilla have picked up form domestically, as the former is undefeated in three consecutive league games, while the latter has won four of their last five.

The pre-game SBOTOP betting odds have Juventus as the favourite to win this semi-final tie, but it’s hard to overlook the fact that the Europa League has been Sevilla’s happy hunting ground, as they’ve won in this competition a record six times.

Talking Points

Juventus’ attack looks much better

Dusan Vlahovic is back on the scoresheet for Juventus, which means bad news for their opponents. The Serbian international has taken his tally to 13 goals this season following his goals against Atalanta and Lecce recently.

Despite his lack of consistent game time, Vlahovic is still the leading scorer for I Bianconeri. Reports claim that Vlahovic is becoming increasingly unsettled in Turin, so if he becomes more consistent, his stock will rise within and outside of the club.

Several Premier League teams are monitoring Vlahovic’s situation at Juventus, with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, and Aston Villa reportedly interested.

Besides Vlahovic, Adrien Rabiot and Arek Milik have also displayed their shooting touch, and they’re the second and third-leading scorers of this squad, with 11 and nine goals, respectively.

But another guy to keep an eye on if you’re Sevilla is Samuel Iling-Junior, who is relishing his new opportunities in Turin. The 19-year-old winger got his first Serie A start against Atalanta, and he scored the first goal of the game to give his team the lead for good.

Because of his fine performance against La Dea, Juventus confirmed that they won’t let Iling-Junior go to play for England in the U-20 World Cup because they need more bodies as we head down to the final stretch of this campaign.

Iling-Junior adds pace to Juventus’ frontline, so we won’t be surprised if Max Allegri names him in the starting lineup once again on Thursday.

Europa League or bust for Sevilla

Despite being safe from relegation, Sevilla’s 2022-23 campaign is going to be deemed a bust, except if they somehow win the Europa League this year.

But even if they’re the winningest team in this competition, the odds are stacked against Los Palanganas because they have been bad on the road and they have key injuries to deal with.

First-choice centre-back Tanguy Nianzou was out against Espanyol due to injury, and he has yet to train with the team this week, while Suso and Tecatito are listed as doubtful for Thursday.

Sevilla will need strong outings from Youssef En-Nesyri and Lucas Ocampos, and these two forwards are capable of producing new Europa League 2023 highlights, just like what they did to Manchester United in the previous round.

History

Prior to Thursday, Juventus and Sevilla had faced off in Europe four times, all in the Champions League between 2015-16 and 2016-17. In this particular matchup, the Old Lady has the edge with two wins, one draw, and a loss, while they are undefeated at home (W1, D1).

However, Juventus have lost each of their last two home matches against La Liga sides in Europe, failing to score in either match. Those were against Barcelona in the group stages of the 2020-21 Champions League and versus Villarreal in the Round of 16 of the same tournament in 2021-22.

Sevilla have won each of their last six matches against Italian opposition in the Europa League. Their most recent one was when they won their last trophy after beating Inter Milan in the 2019-20 final.

Betting Tip

As mentioned, the Europa League 2023 odds like Juventus’ chances to win at home because they’re priced at 1.77 to win, while Sevilla are at 4.10, and a draw is at 3.45 in the 1X2 market.

The reason why Juventus are backed heavily is because they have never been beaten at home in the Europa League since its rebranding in 2009, although Sevilla are going to make it close.

Juventus are likely to win this via another ho-hum affair. However, along with their improvements in the final third and Sevilla’s crop of attackers, we will see some goals, making Total Goal 2-3 at 1.82 a viable alternative.

 

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