Coppa Italia
2013-01-22 - Juventus vs Lazio
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Football : Italy : Coppa Italia
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013, 7:45PM GMT
PREVIEW
What a match this may turn out to be. Serie A's leaders host 3rd placed Lazio in the Coppa Italia, where there is a 5 point difference between the sides. That counts for nothing here, as both teams get the chance to move to the finals via a 2 legged tie.
Both teams played on Saturday, and while Lazio had their 100% start to 2013 brought to a halt in a 2-2 draw at Palermo, who are 2nd from bottom in the league, Juventus strolled to a quite impressive 4-0 win over Udinese.
The h2h is in favour of Juventus, who were held 0-0 here back in mid-November but had won the previous 4 meetings home and away, and all by a 1 goal margin. The last 2 meetings here, prior to the goalless draw, both ended 2-1 to Juventus.
Keep an eye on Paul Pogba, a french midfielder who hogged the limelight with his performance against Udinese, where he scored the opening 2 goals before his teammates doubled Juventus' lead for a 4-0 win.
That takes Juventus' Serie A scoring total to 45 goals, much more than the 32 Lazio have managed. They are also defensively much superior, having conceded a league low 14 goals in the league, while Lazio have allowed 21, which is also very good.
Ultimately, the home advantage is going to count. Juventus have lost just 2 games all season here, and having been shocked by Sampdoria here at the start of the new year, are unlikely to take it easy. Of course, this being a cup game, there is no chance they lose concentration anyway, what with the visitors being high ranked tough opposition.
BETTING VERDICT
While Lazio's 3-0 win over Catania to get here was good, I was very impressed with the way Juventus knocked out AC Milan in ET, allowing the highscoring opponents to register just 1 goal.
The defence will come up big again, because it is crucial Juventus get themselves some kind of advantage to take with them for the return leg, where Lazio will have the advantage. I think Juventus get that advantage with a win, but probably by just a 1 goal margin.
The Pick :
Juventus 2-1 Lazio
