Bet on Champions League: Juventus may be Without Dybala Against Tottenham

Paulo Dybala could miss out on first knockout stage game of the Champions League against Tottenham due to injury, according to online sportsbook news. “Dybala is recovering well but in terms of being ready for the Champions League we’ll still have to evaluate,” said Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri.

There are plenty of players that can fill Dybala’s shoes

The diminutive Argentine has scored a total of 17 goals in 28 appearances until this stage, however none of those came in the Champions League, despite having played in all six games of the group stage. Looking at his previous two seasons in Europe’s elite competition, Dybala has managed to find the back of the net only 5 times in 18 appearances, with 4 of those scored in last year’s edition; it’s fair to say he has not yet gotten to grips with football played outside of Italy’s Serie A.

“It’s not going to be just a one-off match against Tottenham,” commented Allegri. “Naturally if Dybala, Juan Cuadrado and Douglas Costa are out Bernardeschi is the only one left, so he had to grit his teeth and play regardless. Unless he feels enormous levels of pain, he will play.”

But Juventus fans need not worry, as their other Argentine and the club’s main attacking threat Gonzalo Higuain will likely feature against the Spurs on February 13th, unless an untimely injury befalls him in the meantime. Higuain, or El Pipita as he’s affectionately referred to by some fans, has already appeared in 32 games overall this campaign, scoring 17 goals in the process – the same number as his compatriot Dybala.

Will Allegri lead the Old Lady to the Champions League final just like he did last season? (source: Express)

Massimiliano Allegri will be looking to utilize his talismanic star when they host Mauricio Pochettino’s men, however there’s also plenty of other attacking options at his disposal: Mario Mandzukic, Juan Cuadrado, Douglas Costa and lots more from midfield that can be placed on the wing if need be and support the main striker Higuain.

Bet on Juventus v Tottenham & Juventus to win Champions League

When looking at domestic competitions, the Old Lady has been performing brilliantly (19 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses so far) and it seems that only Napoli can usurp their plans of lifting yet another league title. The Spurs have not matched that same level this season in the Premier League, at the moment they’re in 5th position (14 wins, 7 draws and 5 losses) and they’re fighting to re-enter the top four to qualify for next season’s edition of Europe’s elite competition.

That’s why Juventus are ranked as the side to beat in the upcoming encounter against Tottenham in the last 16, with their odds being 1.95 (10/11), while the most that the London side can hope for is a draw 3.30 (9/4). A victory for Spurs in Turin seems unlikely 4.00 (3/1), so it’s best to bet on the Italians for this match.

(For more info about the online sportsbook, take a look at our Bet365 Sportsbook review.)

Juventus finished second in Group D having clinched 3 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss, finding themselves merely 3 points behind leaders Barcelona. Currently, online sportsbooks in UK and across Europe mainly favour Man City to win the Champions League outright with odds of 4.33 (10/3), while Bayern Munich 6.00 (5/1), PSG 6.00 (5/1) and Barcelona 6.50 (11/2) are all underdogs for the title. Juventus on the other hand have been deemed outsiders – for now at least – with them being 8th favourites having odds of 17.00 (16/1). However, it might still be a good idea to place a wager on them just in case; last year they weren’t viewed as a serious threat in the competition but yet managed to reach the final.