Juventus vs Nantes Match Preview

Juventus will start their 2022/23 campaign in the UEFA Europa League by hosting Nantes. They were relegated here after finishing third in the UEFA Champions League group stage, behind PSG and Benfica. It has been a difficult season for them considering all the injuries and the recent point deduction they had in the Italian Serie A. Now, playing and winning the UEFA Europa League trophy has become a goal for them in order to get a ticket for the next season's Champions League.

For the moment, the injury situation seems to have improved as Pogba and Milik are the only key players who are out. Vlahovic is expected to play from the start and being backed up by the duo Di Maria - Chiesa I expect them to be very dangerous up front. At home, Juventus has been quite solid this season as they have lost a single game in the Serie A and two in the UEFA Champions League but against rivals of a higher level.

Nantes, on the other side, managed to qualify from the UEFA Europa League group stage in the last moment as somehow they managed to win their last two games and finish ahead of Qarabag by one point. In the domestic league, it has not been a great season for them as they are ranked in 13th place, having a negative goal difference.

Definitely being on the road will make everything harder for them as during the group stage they had a poor defense conceding 11 goals and averaging almost two goals per game. Another problem here is going to be their two absences in attack as their best strikers Moses (injury) and Ganago (personal reasons) are out.

In conclusion, I think Juventus can manage to win this game and cover the -1 goal Asian handicap. They are a way better team than their rivals with quality players especially in attack and I guess playing the first leg at home will motivate them to try and settle the deal already. Nantes will have to focus on a defensive play mainly but I do not see them holding for the entire 90 minutes.