Juventus v Rennes preview: the team news

Juventus host Rennes tonight with a long injury list and a bruised home crowd, and Rennes arrive without the top scorer in Ligue 1. Juventus are missing Kenan Yildiz, Francisco Conceição, Manuel Locatelli and three others; Rennes have left Estéban Lepaul at home with an ankle injury. Both coaches are likely to change shape. We have published a call on this game, but its numbers are not public on the Desk, so this preview has no BAI8 chance or price: it is the news, sourced, and what it is likely to matter for.

Kick-off is 16:45 UTC (18:45 in Turin) at the Allianz Stadium, matchday 3 of the Europa League league phase.

How it settled

Juventus and Rennes drew 2–2 at the Allianz Stadium, per BBC Sport. Zeki Çelik scored after five minutes, Mousa Al-Tamari levelled on 15 and Boulaye Dia put Rennes ahead from the spot before half-time. Nick Woltemade equalised with a penalty on 67 minutes, and Jhon Lucumí had a late winner ruled out for offside, per CNA. The team news held: Al-Tamari did play centrally next to Dia, and both Juventus strikers started. Our call on this match stays on the Desk for members, so this page still carries no BAI8 number.

The team news as it stood before kick-off:

	Juventus	Rennes
Out or missing	Conceição, Locatelli, Yildiz, Thuram, Grabara, Ekhator; Zhegrova not on the UEFA list	Lepaul (ankle, did not travel)
Likely shape	Back three or four, Kolo Muani and Woltemade up front	Back five, Al-Tamari and Dia up front
Last game	Lost 3–0 at home to Lazio	Won 4–3 at Paris FC
Europa League so far	Two wins, top of the table	Four points from two games

Juventus: who is out and who starts

• Six missing from the last session. Goal, via OneFootball, reports Conceição, Locatelli, Yildiz, Thuram, Grabara and Ekhator all sat out Wednesday's final training session at Continassa.
• Conceição misses two games. Arena Juve reports a dislocated left shoulder that rules him out of Rennes and Napoli, and notes Edon Zhegrova was left off the UEFA list on 13 October.
• Two strikers together. Luciano Spalletti told his press conference that Randal Kolo Muani and Nick Woltemade will both start, per TuttoMercatoWeb. They scored the two goals in the 2–1 win at Celta Vigo.
• A captain's armband that tells a story. Arena Juve expects Weston McKennie to captain the side, with Gleison Bremer on the bench after his public row following Sunday's 3–0 home defeat to Lazio.

The sources disagree on the back line: Arena Juve has Gatti, Kelly and Kalulu in a back three, TuttoMercatoWeb has Bremer in. Spalletti tried both a back three and a back four in training, per Goal.

Rennes: no Lepaul, maybe a back five

• The top scorer stays home. Le Parisien reports Lepaul hurt his left ankle late in Sunday's 4–3 win at Paris FC, is ruled out and did not travel. Mousa Al-Tamari is expected to move central next to Boulaye Dia.
• A change of shape. Franck Haise said he could change system, and Le Parisien expects a back five with Abdelhamid Aït-Boudlal, Charlie Cresswell and Anthony Rouault in the middle. TuttoMercatoWeb has the same idea.
• Leaky on the road. Rennes conceded four in each of their last two away games, 4–0 at Lyon and 4–3 at Paris FC, per Le Parisien. Our numbers on that Paris FC game are in Paris FC v Rennes prediction and odds.

What the news is likely to move

Most of this news cuts one way for goals and the other for the result. Juventus lose creativity (Yildiz, Conceição) and a deep midfielder (Locatelli), but they keep a settled defence and start two centre-forwards. Rennes lose their main finisher and are likely to defend deeper. On paper that points towards a low-scoring game more than it points to a winner. It is the same kind of reading we gave Juventus's trip to Vigo in Celta Vigo v Juventus prediction and odds.

What this does not tell you

It gives no chance, no fair price and no edge, because our call on this game is not public. Team sheets come about an hour before kick-off, and two of the line-up stories above disagree with each other. It does not say who will win. When a fixture does have public numbers, here is how we read a Desk card before kick-off.

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