Prediction: Juventus vs Milan

Verdict: Both teams to score – yes

Best Odds: 1/1

Bookmaker: bet365

Serie A heavyweights Juventus and Milan go head to head in the Supercoppa Italian on Wednesday night in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is a game that pairs Serie A and Coppa winners – in this particular case the finalists of the latter competition – and promises to be much more than just a showboating opportunity.

Juventus

Juventus have only extended their domestic dominance last season by grabbing both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles, respectively. Having won both competitions last season, the Old Lady head into the match in Jeddah feeling rather confident of their chances against the last year’s Cup finalists Milan.

Both teams share plenty of success in the competition but this game will come down to the current run of form which clearly makes Juventus firm favourites to lift the trophy. Heading into the second part of the Serie A campaign, Juventus remain the only unbeaten club from Europe’s top five leagues. Their December set-back at Young Boys in the Champions League had done little to no damage to the club’s confidence and Max Allegri men will be extremely keen to extend the current unbeaten run stretching to five games on the trot. All eyes for the Supercoppa clash will be on the summer arrival Cristiano Ronaldo who’s hit the ground running at his new club. With 14 goals in 19 Serie A matches, the Portuguese superstar is topping the Italian scoring charts ahead of Genoa’s Piatek and will be extremely motivated to help his team win the first trophy of the season.

Team News

Joao Cancelo returned to the squad and will be in contention for the Wednesday’s match.

Mehdi Benatia and Mario Mandzukic are both out of action due to respective injuries.  

Milan

Despite the fact they head into the Supercoppa match as underdogs against the rampant Juventus, Milan will be looking to gain an upper hand over Bianconeri by winning their record eighth title in the competition. As things stand right now, both Juventus and Milan have seven of these next to their name.

Juventus did win the competition the joint-record seven times but they also lost six of these matches while Milan have a much better win percentage. Recent history hints this could be a high-scoring match with wantaway striker and Chelsea winter target Gonzalo Higuain keen to exact revenge on his former club after – according to his own testament – getting forcedly pushed out of Juventus last summer. The Argentine forward has not enjoyed the best of forms lately, having scored his last goal for Rossoneri back in October. This match, however, is a special occasion and Milan will lack no motivation despite somewhat weaker form of late. Milan only won two of their last seven matches in all competitions 0 including last weekend’s 2-0 Copa Italia win over Samprodia, achieved in extra time. Gennaro Gattuso will not have been particularly happy with his team’s performances of late but a good showing against Juventus could offer a major boost for the team’s morale.

Team News

Suso will be suspended for the match following a red card he was shown against SPAL.

Gonzalo Higuain travelled to Jeddah despite being a subject of transfer negotiations with Chelsea and this could very much be his last game for Milan. He might as well make it count.

Key Factors to Consider

• Cristiano Ronaldo scored 14 goals in 19 Serie A matches this season
• Juventus are the only unbeaten team in Europe’s top 5 leagues
• Bianconeri suffered only 2 defeats this entire campaign, both in the Champions League
• Milan won 2 of their last 7 matches in all competitions
• Rossoneri lost all of their last 6 encounters with Juventus

Conclusion

Recent history suggests Juventus should have no major problems against Rossoneri who suffered six straight defeats at the hands of Bianconeri. Supercoppa Italiana is, however, a special match and there is no doubt that Milan will be eager to put an end to such a dreadful run against Bianconeri. Gattuso’s men struggled in front of goal lately but we nevertheless anticipate a high-scoring affair with goals on both ends.

Verdict: Both teams to score – yes

Best Odds: 1/1

Bookmaker: bet365