Juventus vs NEC Nijmegen: team news, predicted choices and our call for tonight's Europa League game
Tonight at 21:00 Italian time Juventus open their Europa League campaign against NEC Nijmegen. Kelly suspended, Zhegrova left out of the squad, six injured; NEC without goalkeeper Crettaz and short at the back. The choices, the numbers and our call, with the other Europa League games of the night.
Juventus start their Europa League tonight: kick-off at 21:00 Italian time at the Allianz Stadium against NEC Nijmegen, who bring more than two thousand fans. It is the first matchday of the single league phase.
Neither side arrives in good shape. Juventus lost 3-2 at Sassuolo on Sunday to a goal in the 94th minute and are 8th in Serie A on 7 points. NEC are tenth in the Eredivisie and have taken one point from their last three league games, the last of them a 3-0 defeat at Cambuur.
Who Juventus are missing
Kelly is suspended after a red card in last season's Champions League, and Zhegrova is not in the UEFA squad: he sits this one out straight after his two goals at Sassuolo.
Then there are six players with a club medical bulletin, none of which gives a return date:
Yildiz: surgery on a fracture at the base of the fifth metatarsal in his left foot.
Locatelli: repair of the lateral meniscus in his right knee.
Thuram: surgery on his right knee.
Boga: a medium-grade hamstring injury.
Cabal: a low-grade injury to his left thigh.
Ekhator: a medium-grade injury to his right thigh.
Spalletti's choices
Spalletti said McKennie will start. Cambiaso trained with the squad but still felt some pain, and the decision on him was put off until this morning. Grabara is favoured in goal, Bremer is a doubt for a starting place and Koopmeiners is expected to begin on the bench.
It has also been a build-up under pressure. Chief executive Carnevali backed the coach on the radio, and Spalletti spoke of urgency in his press conference: the urgency to win this game, and not only this one.
The NEC side coming to Turin
The coach is Dick Schreuder, in his second season. NEC finished third in the Eredivisie last year; this summer they knocked out Olympiacos in the Champions League third qualifying round, then went out to Bodø/Glimt and dropped into the Europa League.
They arrive with a defence in trouble, as Schreuder himself admitted. Goalkeeper Crettaz is suspended after his red card in Bodø, with Polster expected to replace him. Fonville, Kaplan and Emre Mor are also out, and Tahaui is not registered for the competition.
Three names will be familiar in Italy: Tadic, 37; Schuurs, who spent four seasons at Torino; and Nuytinck, formerly of Udinese. The expected shape is 3-4-2-1, with Chery behind the striker.
The referee is Oleksii Derevinskyi of Ukraine.
Our call
On Juventus against NEC our call is over 1.5 goals, confidence 6 out of 10.
Tonight's other Europa League games
18:45, Levski Sofia v Salzburg. Here our call is under 4.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10.
18:45, OFI Crete v Hoffenheim. Here our call is over 1.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10.
21:00, Crystal Palace v Lech Poznań: Palace, the Conference League holders, play their first ever Europa League game; Mateta, Henderson and Riad are out. Here our call is under 4.5 goals, confidence 6 out of 10.
21:00, Real Sociedad v Bournemouth: it is Bournemouth's first ever European game; Real Sociedad are without the suspended Aramburu. Here our call is under 4.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10.
21:00, Beşiktaş v Marseille: Marseille come in on three straight league defeats, with PSG on Sunday. Here our call is under 4.5 goals, confidence 6 out of 10.
21:00, Celtic v Ferencváros: Celtic went out of the Champions League play-off to LASK after extra time; Oxlade-Chamberlain is suspended. Here our call is over 1.5 goals, confidence 6 out of 10.
21:00, Viktoria Plzeň v Union Saint-Gilloise: Union Saint-Gilloise are missing three suspended players: Zorgane, Van de Perre and Florucz. Here our call is over 1.5 goals, confidence 6 out of 10.
21:00, Lillestrøm v Torreense. Here our call is under 4.5 goals, confidence 7 out of 10.
Every game with our calls is on the Europa League page and on the Serie A page. The record of settled calls is in the results history, and the individual ones are in player predictions.
