Preview: Juventus vs. Malmo - prediction, team news, lineups

Juventus will be looking to claim all three points in their final Champions League group-stage encounter at home against Malmo on Wednesday evening.

The Italian giants need to better Chelsea's result against Zenit St Petersburg to finish top of the group, while the visitors are hoping to cause an upset and claim their first Champions League win since October 2015.

Match preview

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After suffering a disappointing 1-0 Serie A defeat at home to Atalanta at the end of last month, Juventus have since bounced back with successive 2-0 wins against relegation-threatened Salernitana and Genoa.

Paulo Dybala was on the scoresheet in both matches and has taken his tally across all competitions to eight, three more than any other Juve player this season.

The Italian giants remain some distance away from the Serie A summit, sitting 11 points behind leaders AC Milan and seven points behind the top four.

While Juventus's domestic form has been underwhelming, their Champions League efforts had been faultless until they suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat away against holders Chelsea last month.

That result means Juve's hopes of finishing top of Group H are now out of their own hands, with the Blues having a better head-to-head record against them. Massimiliano Allegri's men need to better Chelsea's result against Zenit St Petersburg if they are to end their group campaign at the summit.

Juve will fancy their chances of securing all three points against basement club Malmo, having won all three of their previous meetings against them without conceding, including September's 3-0 win in Sweden.

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Malmo managed to defend their Swedish top-flight title on the final day of the season despite playing out a goalless draw at home against Halmstad last weekend.

After finishing nine points clear at the summit in 2020, Di Blae secured their 22nd championship by goal difference this year, finishing above AIK Fotboll who narrowly missed out despite winning their final match.

Jon Dahl Tomasson's side now have one final game in 2021 before their domestic season begins again in April next year, and will be hoping to go out on a high, albeit against a challenging opponent in the form of two-time European champions Juventus.

Their hopes of a famous triumph in Turin are slim, however, considering their poor away record in the Champions League. Malmo have won just 7% of their away games in Europe's elite competition – among clubs who have played at least 25 away matches in the competition's history, only AEK Athens (4%) have a lower win percentage.

Malmo managed to claim their first and only point in this year's competition when they drew 1-1 at home against Zenit St Peterburg last month. The last time Di Blae were unbeaten in successive Champions League games was back in November 1990, when they enjoyed a run of four matches without defeat.

Team News

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Juventus will be without Danilo (thigh), Federico Chiesa (muscle) and Aaron Ramsey (unspecified), while Weston McKennie (knee) and Mattia De Sciglio (hamstring) are both unlikely to feature but will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Allegri is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to the starting lineup selected against Genoa last weekend; however, Leonardo Bonucci could return at centre-back ahead of either Giorgio Chiellini or Matthijs de Ligt.

Dybala, who has been directly involved in seven goals in his last seven Champions League appearances at the Juventus Stadium, is expected to start in behind Alvaro Morata, with Federico Bernardeschi and Dejan Kulusevski providing support from the flanks.

As for Malmo, Jonas Knudsen and Ola Toivonen are both ruled out with knee problems, while Oscar Lewicki and Felix Beijmo are both doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Captain Anders Christiansen and Erdal Rakip will both be in contention to start in midfield after recovering from respective hamstring and knee injuries and coming off the bench at the weekend.

Striker Antonio Colak, who has scored 14 goals across all competitions this season, is set to lead the line, and could be joined in attack by Veljko Birmancevic.

Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, De Ligt, Sandro; Locatelli, Bentancur; Kulusevski, Dybala, Bernardeschi; Morata

Malmo possible starting lineup:
Dahlin; Nielsen, Ahmedhodzic, Brorsson; Berget, Christiansen, Innocent, Rakip, Olsson; Birmancevic, Colak

We say: Juventus 3-0 Malmo

Even though Juventus and Malmo have both experienced contrasting results domestically in recent months, everything points towards a home victory for the Italian giants on Wednesday.

Not only do Juve have top spot in Group H still to fight for, but their squad is much stronger in every department and they should have no problems in securing a routine win in Turin.

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