MLS All-Stars vs Juventus Odds, Preview and Prediction

Italy’s Most Decorated Squad

The MLS All-Star are looking for their second victory since defeating the Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in 2015 and MLS All-Stars coach Tata Martino will have a stacked team led by Atlanta’s own Josef Martinez. Martinez set an MLS record with a sixth hat trick this season and has scored 23 goals in 24 games.

Also selected from Atlanta were goalie Brad Guzan and central defender Michael Pankhurst. Bradley Wright Phillips, the fastest MLS player to 100 regular season goals, was also voted to his second All-Star appearance. LAFC’s Carlos Vela, the MLS All-Stars captain is also a forward on the team.

On the opposite side of the field is Italy’s most decorated squad and one of the most respected in global football in Juventus FC. The Old Lady is fresh off winning a record seventh Serie A title and a fourth consecutive (13th overall) Coppa Italia championship.

Juventus enters the All-Star game with back to back victories over Bayern Munich and Benfica in the 2018 International Champions Cup. Andrea Favilli delivered the two goals in the 2-0 win over Bayern Munich while Luca Clemenza sent home the equalizer and Juventus won 4-2 on penalties.

After Wednesday’s game against the MLS All-Star, Juventus closes out its American tour against Real Madrid on Saturday at the FedEx Field and then head to Chievo Verona on August 19 to begin their Serie A campaign.

Zlatan Is Gone

One of the biggest storylines for this year’s MLS All-Star game was the possibility of Zlatan Ibrahimovic playing against one of his former teams in Juventus. Well, that storyline is off now as Ibrahimovic withdrew from the exhibition game due to concerns on traveling to Atlanta and a hectic three match week schedule.

Since the MLS implemented a one-game suspension policy for non-injured players who skip the All-Star game, Ibrahimovic will miss the Galaxy’s game against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday as a consequence of his actions.

Ibrahimovic was expected to be one of the top draws in Atlanta. He played for Juventus from 2004-2006 and also spent several seasons playing for Inter Milan and AC Milan in Serie A football. Ibrahimovic has scored 15 and assisted on 6 goals in 17 games played for the L.A. Galaxy this season.

Aside from Ibrahimovic, David Villa of New York City FC will also miss the All-Star game and will also incur a one game suspension. Villa started in the last three editions of the MLS All-Star game but will miss this year’s match after not playing in New York’s last six matches due to injury. Minnesota United’s Darwin Quintero and the New York Red Bulls’ Tyler Adams will replace Ibrahimovic and Villa on the MLS squad. For Juventus, the most noticeable absence is their off season catch, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is still enjoying his post World Cup vacation.

Here are the complete line-ups for both squads:

Who Wins?

This is the 14th year in a row where the MLS All-Stars have faced an international side and they have an outstanding record of 7-2-4 all-time, beating teams like Bayern Munich, Celtic, Chelsea and Tottenham. This is of course just an exhibition game but this is hardly your ordinary friendly as the MLS All-Stars are known to bring it to their visitors.

The last 10 MLS All-Star games have averaged 3.8 goals scored so this one could be a high scoring affair as well even without Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo on opposite sides.

Juventus is 6-3-1 in their last 10 games but just 2-3 in their last 5 games on the road. Meanwhile the MLS All-Stars are 2-3 in their last five All-Star games.

Juventus has the talent and experience to win this match. The MLS All-Stars also have a very high talent level but compared to the Old Lady, they are not as cohesive as a unit since they were only put together for this game. This is just an exhibition match and could become a scoring showcase. But since this is football, the team who plays together better should come out with the win.

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