Juventus-Lazio Betting Preview: Expect goals at both ends in the Supercoppa Italiana

The champions have brought in a couple of high profile strikers over the summer, but Al Hain-Cole believes that a drop in their defensive standards will spell goals on Sunday

The Italian football season gets going with a bang on Sunday, as Juventus and Lazio go head to head in the curtain raiser that is the Supercoppa.

Having won Serie A at a canter last season, Antonio Conte’s men are understandably 21/20 (2.05)favourites with BetVictor to claim this trophy for the second year in succession.However, the Biancocelesti overcame these very opponents on the way to last season’s Coppa Italia triumph, and are available at 5/2 (3.50) to pull off another shock at their Stadio Olimpico home. 

The champions needed extra-time in order to overcome Napoli in last year’s corresponding fixture, and you can get odds of 23/10 (3.30) on this one also remaining tied after 90 minutes.

La Vecchia Signora have been busy in the transfer market this summer, as they seek to add some more star quality to an attack that was outscored by both Napoli and Fiorentina last season.

The arrivals of Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente have provided the fans with optimism that their side are ready to step up to the level of the European elite, although they should also be wary of a more attacking philosophy upsetting the team’s balance.Having only conceded 24 goals in 38 games last season, Conte’s men have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last four friendly matches, and the international break prior to this match will only have served to further disrupt their tactical preparations.

With both sides set to rest certain players in order to allow them time to recover from the variety of international away trips across the globe, odds of 5/6 (1.83) seem decidedly generous on both sides scoring on Sunday, in a bet that would have paid out in each of the last five editions of this fixture.

With Tevez absent, the pressure is on Llorente to prove his worth to an unconvinced Juventus support after an underwhelming pre-season, but it would be no surprise if another striker at the other end of the pitch stole the show.

Miroslav Klose’s winning goal in Lazio’s last friendly against Crystal Palace underlined his importance to Vladimir Petkovic’s plans, and the man with a one in two goal-scoring record in Italy offers tempting value at2/1 (3.00) to score anytime in this clash.