Juventus host Rennes in the Europa League on Thursday evening, October 22, with kick-off at 5:45pm. Our full preview, team news, predicted lineups and score prediction are below.
Match preview
uventus have a perfect record in Europe to go with their poor domestic form, and they host a Rennes side who are also unbeaten after their first league-phase win last week.
The Bianconeri opened with a 5-0 win at home to NEC, then had to work much harder for a rare victory in Spain on matchday two. Nick Woltemade and Randal Kolo Muani, both misfiring in Serie A, scored in a 2-1 win at Celta Vigo that took Juve to the top of the Europa League table. With maximum points they are well on their way to the knockout rounds, and a first European trophy this century is the ultimate prize.
The league is a different story, with one win in their last five games. Woltemade and Kolo Muani each missed a golden chance in Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Lazio, which left Juve eighth, already eight points behind leaders Inter Milan. It is a worse start than at this stage last year, just before Igor Tudor was sacked and replaced by Luciano Spalletti.
Juve face Rennes for the first time since 1999, when they won the Intertoto Cup final over two legs, with Antonio Conte among the scorers. Conte is currently available for work, so his shadow hangs over Spalletti ahead of a potentially awkward midweek game.
Rennes have lost all four of their visits to Italy, against Juve, Udinese, Lazio and AC Milan, and will hope to end that run. They drew 0-0 with Sturm Graz on matchday one, then beat OFI Crete 2-1 last week thanks to a late winner from Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal. Their European form rests on a strong defence. They rank first of all 36 teams for expected goals against (0.79) and for fewest shots faced (13).
At home, things look very different. Franck Haise’s side are Ligue 1’s top scorers with 15 goals but have also conceded 14. They lost a seven-goal thriller 4-3 at Paris FC on Sunday, even though Esteban Lepaul scored a hat-trick of penalties. Captain Valentin Rongier gave away a spot-kick deep in stoppage time, and Paris scored it. Rennes dropped to sixth, one point behind the five clubs above them.
Team News
Spalletti is set to rotate his injury-hit squad again during a hectic run of fixtures. Francisco Conceicao dislocated a shoulder against Lazio and joins Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram, Jeff Ekhator, Kamil Grabara and captain Manuel Locatelli on the absence list.
Unlike in Serie A, Woltemade has scored in both his Europa League games. Only Roberto Baggio in 1990 and Darko Kovacevic in 1999 have scored in their first three European appearances for Juve. The Germany forward could replace Kolo Muani or play alongside him, as Spalletti has no other fit strikers.
Rennes may be without new France international Lepaul, who picked up an ankle injury at the weekend, so Lazio loanee Boulaye Dia could replace him up front. Rongier was rested against Paris and will captain the side from midfield. Haise rotates his full-backs often, so Mahamadou Nagida competes with Quentin Merlin, while Bryan Reynolds hopes to get the nod over Przemyslaw Frankowski.
Probable Starting XI’s
Juventus possible XI (3-4-1-2): Vicario; Kalulu, Gatti, Kelly; Celik, Luiz, Sarr, Cambiaso; McKennie; Kolo Muani, Woltemade
Rennes possible XI (4-3-3): Samba; Reynolds, Cresswell, Ait Boudlal, Nagida; Szymanski, Rongier, Camara; Blas, Dia, Soumare
Prediction
Juve have made little progress in Serie A since Spalletti arrived a year ago, but they have won their last four European home games, scoring 12 and conceding two. With the pressure eased by a strong start to the league phase, they should beat a hit-and-miss Rennes.
Prediction: Juventus 2-1 Rennes
