Coppa Italia – Round of 16
Venue: Juventus Stadium, Turin.
Kick-Off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Date: Wednesday, 11th January 2017


Juventus and Atalanta will square off at the Juventus Stadium on Wednesday night in the Coppa Italia, with both teams looking to extend their unbeaten streak. Juventus picked up a comfortable 3-0 home victory over Bologna in the Serie A at the weekend, thanks to a brace from Gonzalo Higuain and a penalty goal by Paulo Dybala. Atalanta also managed an impressive victory at the weekend, winning 1-4 on the road at ChievoVerona. A brace from Alejandro Gomez and two other goals from Andrea Conti and Remo Freuler were enough for Gian Piero Gasperini’s men to grab three crucial points. Below we have our betting tips, predictions, team news and match stats all in our SBAT preview.

Juventus Preview
After a disappointing penalty-shootout defeat at the hands of AC Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana towards the end of December 2016, Juventus bounced back with a comfortable 3-0 home victory over Bologna in the Serie A at the weekend. They are currently on a four-game winning streak in the Serie A since a 3-1 defeat on the road at Genoa towards the end of November 2016. This means that Juve still sit on top of the Serie A table with 45 points to their name after 18 rounds, four points off the 2nd-placed Roma and with a game in hand. The secret of their good performances throughout this Serie A campaign has been their solid defence, conceding just 14 goals in 18 league fixtures. The Bianconeri also looked good going forward so far this season, as they hold the 3rd best offensive record in the division with just 39 goals scored in 18 rounds. Juve can count on their home form ahead of this clash, as they boast a 100% record in front of their own fans this season. Juventus’ strong run here stretches back even longer than that, as they have now won 26 straight home fixtures in the Serie A after they saw off Bologna 3-0 last time out. Furthermore, Juventus are unbeaten in their 14 home meetings with Atalanta in all competitions, winning 13 and drawing once in the process.

ATALANTA PREVIEW
After a three-game winless streak in the Serie A at the beginning of December, Atalanta bounced back with two consecutive victories over Empoli and ChievoVerona. This lifts Atalanta in 6th position in the Serie A table with 35 points to their name after 19 rounds, just one point off the top five. Atalanta looked good in the final third so far this season, scoring 31 goals in 19 league fixtures. Franck Kessie is leading the club’s goalscoring charts with 6 goals, while Alejandro Gomez and Jasmin Kurtic bagged 10 goals and 5 assists between them. Their recent away form has been near perfect, as they have only lost once in their last eight away games in the Serie A. The most worrying fact is that Atalanta have failed to win a single game in their 14 visits to the Juventus Stadium, losing 13 and drawing once in this term. Regarding their current Coppa Italia campaign, La Dea have already managed two 3-0 victories over Cremonese and Pescara in the first two rounds of the competition. However, they were eliminated in the first rounds of the competition over the past two years. The bad news is that Atalanta looked awful on the road over the past nine years, losing seven and winning two in the process.

Juventus Team News
Mehdi Benatia, Gianluigi Buffon, Federico Mattiello, Rolando Mandragora and Alex Sandro are all doubts, but Daniel Alves and Leonardo Bonucci are both missing through injury.

Atalanta Team News
Boukari Drame is a doubt, but the good news is that Emanuele Suagher is back in training following his cruciate ligament injury.

Betting Predictions and Tips
Juventus should have no problems to win here despite Atalanta’s recent good run of form. Juve have won 13 and drawn once from their 14 home meetings with Atalanta in all competitions, and they managed to win the last 26 home fixtures in the Serie A. I’m backing Juventus to win here, but I’m also expecting a high-scoring affair as both sides scored plenty of goals of late.

Juventus to win and Over 2.5 goals at 21/20


Over 2.5 goals at 8/11