Juventus Vs Man City preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Manchester City will look to bounce back from their dwindling form in the UEFA Champions League when they travel to Turin to face Juventus at Allianz Stadium on 11 December. 

From the elation of Pep Guardiola’s contract extension to the despair of their heaviest Premier League home loss under his tenure, the past month has been a rollercoaster of emotions for City fans.

After a scoreless stalemate against Inter Milan, City appeared to regain their rhythm with dominant wins over Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague. Yet, this revival proved fleeting, as they soon endured a string of underwhelming performances.

Guardiola’s side is enduring an unprecedented slump in form, marking a historic low for the Catalan manager and the club this decade.

For the first time in his illustrious career, the 53-year-old has suffered four consecutive defeats and a winless streak of five matches. This run includes losses to Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup, Sporting CP in the Champions League, and Bournemouth, Brighton, and Tottenham in the Premier League, culminating in a dramatic 3-3 draw against Feyenoord.

The draw against Feyenoord was particularly shocking, as it marked the first time since May 1989 that City failed to secure victory after holding a three-goal lead, a feat last seen against Bournemouth in the English second tier. In Guardiola’s 941-game managerial career, it was the first instance of his side squandering such a commanding advantage.

They now sit in 17th position in the UEFA Champions League table with eight points after five matches, the same number of points as their next opponents, Juventus, who sit in 19th place.

The road ahead doesn’t offer much relief for the city residents. They are set to face Liverpool in the Premier League, followed by a challenging encounter against a resolute Juventus side that have lost only one game across all competitions at the time of writing.

Since their last encounter at the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in 2015, Juventus have seen a noticeable decline in European competitions and League triumphs compared to City.

Their once-unbreakable grip on Serie A ended, with their last league title coming in the 2019/20 season after a remarkable run of nine consecutive Scudetto titles. Additionally, the wait for a third Champions League title continues, with their last triumph in Europe’s elite competition dating back to 1996.

Thiago Motta’s arrival in the summer at Turin was met with enthusiasm, promising a shift from the Old Lady’s traditional defensive approach to a more fluid and dominant style of play, reminiscent of his impressive two-year tenure at Bologna. Motta guided Bologna to a historic fifth-place finish last season, securing UEFA Champions League football for the first time in over six decades.

Juventus brought him in to rejuvenate the team, aiming for a more dynamic and youthful direction.

However, the anticipated transformation has fallen short this season. Despite being the only unbeaten team in Serie A with six wins and seven draws, they sit sixth in the table heading into matchday 14.

The Bianconeri began their Champions League campaign on a high note, securing back-to-back wins against PSV and RB Leipzig. However, momentum was halted by a slim 1-0 loss to Stuttgart, followed by a string of draws against Lille and Villa. In their latest match, Juventus narrowly avoided defeat, with the video assistant referee ruling out a late Villa goal to ensure the draw.

Given their illustrious legacy, Juventus are always seen as serious contenders—or, at the very least, expected to deliver performances that reflect their storied reputation more than recent results indicate.

Juventus vs. Man City match details 

• Date: Wednesday, 11 December, 2024
• Location: Turin, Italy
• Venue: Allianz Stadium
• Kick-off time: 08:00 PM GMT
• Tickets: Fans can buy Juventus vs Manchester City tickets from the club exchanges or via trusted online resellers like Seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head  

• This is the seventh meeting between City and Juventus. The Italian side hold the upper hand historically, with three victories compared to City’s one, while two of their clashes ended in a draw.

• Juventus have conceded the highest number of opposition high turnovers (54) in the UEFA Champions League through the first four matchdays this season.

• City have conceded at least two goals in six consecutive matches across all competitions for the first time since May 1963, a season that ended in their relegation from the top flight.

• Erling Haaland’s penalty against Feyenoord broke the record for the fewest games (44) required to achieve 50 Champions League goal involvements.

• City’s 3-3 draw with Feyenoord made them only the third English team to fail to win a Champions League match after leading by 3+ goals, following Arsenal vs. Anderlecht in 2014 and Liverpool vs. Sevilla in 2017.

• The latest stalemate against Villa at Villa Park in the Champions League marked Bianconerri’s fifth scoreless draw across all competitions this season.

• In each of the last five Serie A seasons where Juventus went unbeaten through their first 13 matches, they claimed the league title—most recently in 2019-20 under Maurizio Sarri.

• The Bianconeri have managed just three wins in their last 16 visits to England.

Team news

For City, one of the positives they could take from their disappointing draw against Feyenoord was the return of integral centre-back Ruben Dias, who recovered from a calf injury to make the bench.

Jeremy Doku also resumed training after a thigh injury kept him out of action and will be in contention for a starting berth against Juventus.

At the time of writing, Mateo Kovacic has not been confirmed to be available, while Guardiola is hopeful John Stones will recover in time from a foot injury to make the squad against Juventus.

Balon d’Or winner Rodri and Oscar Bobb remain the Cityzens’ longest absentees with anterior cruciate ligament and leg injuries, respectively.

Juventus are also grappling with an injury-plagued squad ahead of their clash against the Premier League defending champions. Thiago Motta travelled to Villa Park with only 17 players, including three goalkeepers, to face Aston Villa.

Weston Mckennie and Nicolo Savona are major doubts but are expected to recover in time to face the Cityzens.

South American defensive duo Juan Cabal and Gleison Bremer are both ruled out with an anterior cruciate ligament, while Nico Gonzalez and Douglas Luiz are also unavailable at the time of writing with thigh and muscular injuries, respectively.

Centre-forward, Arkadiusz Milik, and Montenegro midfielder, Vasilije Adžić, are also doubts for the clash, having been ruled out of their latest Serie A clash against Lecce.

It is touch and go with talisman Dusan Vlahovic, who is battling with niggling injury concerns and is expected to be slotted into the lineup if he recovers in time for the clash.

Predicted starting lineup 

Juventus predicted starting lineup:

Di Gregorio; Danilo, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Vlahovic.

Man City predicted starting lineup: 

Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Nunes, Foden; Doku, Haaland, Silva.

Prediction

Despite starting the season well, it hasn’t been the best of results for the Cityzens in their last five games.

Injury has played a part in their dwindling form, but Guardiola will be pleased with the return of some of his first-team regulars, including Dias and Doku.

City will head into this fixture like it’s a make-or-mar clash, but it won’t come easy against a resolute Juventus side that will look to return to winning ways in the competition after failing to win their last three.

We’re predicting a 2-1 win for City.