Juventus vs Benfica Predictions

• Juventus are unbeaten at home this season with eight wins and six draws in Turin
• Benfica have failed to score in three of their last four away Champions League matches, including qualifiers
• Juve have won six of their last eight matches, keeping five clean sheets

Eagles hopes hanging by a thread

Benfica’s qualification hopes could be left hanging by a thread if they lose to a mid-table Juventus side in Wednesday’s penultimate league phase match in this season’s Champions League. Jose Mourinho’s men have done well to hang in there after  losing their first four matches against Qarabag (2-3), Chelsea (1-0), Newcastle (3-0), and Bayer Leverkusen (1-0).

But the Eagles have nevertheless rekindled their hopes with victories against Ajax (0-2) and Napoli (2-0) since late November. Those victories came during a great spell of results for the Lisbon giants, who won seven and drew two of nine matches up to Christmas.

But Benfica have gone badly off the boil since then, losing two and drawing one of their last five matches. Lacking goals away in Europe has also been a stumbling block for a side who cannot afford to sit back and soak up pressure in Turin.

Old Lady have risen since autumn change

Juve are still some way off being the finished article under Luciano Spalletti, who replaced Igor Tudor in the autumn, but they are capable of grinding out good results at home. Unbeaten at Juventus Stadium all season, the Old Lady are worth backing to win this clash with another clean sheet.

The Bianconeri have shut out five of their last eight opponents, including a decent Bologna side and Pafos in their last home Champions League game. The Cypriot side are not particularly potent themselves, but they have only scored two fewer goals in this competition than Benfica.

In Kenan Yildiz and Sergio Conceicao, Juve have two gamebreakers capable of turning a turgid 0-0 into something worth watching and the Turkish star is also worth backing to maintain his recent level of penalty box-productivity.