Juventus v Atletico Madrid: Defensive standards not being maintained

Neither Juventus or Atletico Madrid are living up to their billing as defensively reliable teams and Dan Fitch senses an opportunity in the over/under 2.5 goals market.

Juventus 2.18 v Atletico Madrid 4.20; The Draw 3.25
Tuesday 26 November, 20:00
Live on BT Sport Extra

Stakes are high for Group D giants

Juventus have already booked their place in the Champions League knockout rounds and now host an Atletico Madrid side aiming to join them.

A victory would see Juventus win Group D and potentially leave second placed Atletico in a position where they could be overtaken by either Lokomotiv Moscow or Bayer Leverkusen. An away point for Atletico would go a long way to tightening their grip on that second qualification spot for the last-16.

Both sides are in good form. Juventus are unbeaten this season (P17 W14 D3) and have won their last five matches in a row. Despite their strong start to the season, they are only a point clear at the top of Serie A, with Inter in second place providing the type of competition that Juve have often lacked in recent seasons.

Atletico slipped down to fourth in La Liga over the weekend after drawing 1-1 at Granada. Though Atletico are only three points behind the leaders Barcelona, there is a sense of frustration with Diego Simeone's team. Of their 14 league matches they have drawn seven (W6 L1). With Barca and Real Madrid in erratic form, Atletico are passing up the opportunity to take advantage.

Juve and Atletico both conceding regularly

Both Juventus and Atletico have reputations for defensive excellence, but are failing to live up to their own lofty standards.

Juve have conceded in seven of their last nine games. Atletico have let in goals in each of their last five matches, which is a habit that is contributing to them drawing so many matches.

With neither team keeping many clean sheets, over 2.5 goals could prove to be a value bet at 2.34. When they met in the reverse fixture, the game ended in a 2-2 draw.