Juventus vs. Sevilla Betting Tips: Acuna to be carded in Europa League first leg

The Europa League semi-finals get underway on Thursday evening with Juventus taking on Sevilla in Turin. Our man Anthony Eadson has provided us with his two best bets for the game, which both arrive from the ‘to be carded’ market.

Juventus now sit second in the Serie A table after having their points deduction removed. However, with several court cases on-going, further punishments may be ahead further down the line. On the pitch, Juventus have only lost one of their last 11 in all competitions in front of their own fans and are the 15/8 favourites with most betting sites to go on and lift the Europa League trophy this season.

Sevilla have very much turned their season around under Jose Luis Mendilibar and since he took over they have taken 16 points from a possible 21 in La Liga, with only Atletico Madrid collecting more in this period.

Taking a look at the match result odds for this first leg-tie and Juventus are the 8/11 favourites to take an advantage to Spain next week. The draw can be backed at 12/5, with an away win for Sevilla chalked up at 4/1 with most firms.

I’m hoping for plenty of cards in this clash from referee Daniel Siebert, who is averaging a healthy six cards per game across the seven European matches he has taken control of this season.

The first player I’m targeting is Marcos Acuna, who at the time of writing is a stand-out best price with 10bet and LiveScoreBet at 3/1. Other bookmakers such as bet365, Betway and William Hill, taking a much more conservative approach at 7/5.

No player has been shown more cards for Sevilla this season in La Liga than the Argentine defender with nine yellows and two reds in just 26 appearances. Acuna has already been carded twice in this competition this season and was shown three yellows in six matches at the World Cup, including in the quarter-final and final.

I’ve also had a punt on Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot to find his way into the book. Once again, 10bet and LiveScoreBet are the best priced bookmakers here, with 5/1 being offered.

Another player who was booked in the World Cup final back in December, Rabiot ranks top for Max Allegri’s side when it comes to cards collected in Serie A this campaign with eight. The midfielder has been booked in all of his last three league matches and in five of his last ten starts for Juve in all competitions. At 5/1, Rabiot looks a shade too big here to be carded in a European semi-final.