Juventus – Nijmegen Preview – Can Juve’s depth cover for a growing injury list?
Juventus and Nijmegen have never shared a pitch in European competition, so Thursday night in Turin writes that history from nothing. Our Juventus vs Nijmegen betting tips are built around a match that looks tighter than the two clubs’ reputations suggest: a Serie A heavyweight nursing some real knocks against a Dutch side few in Italy have had reason to study closely. Kick-off is 19:00 GMT on 17 September 2026, the opening round of the new Europa League league phase. Treat Juventus as no more than slight favourites here: with the squad news what it is, this is closer to even than the fixture alone would suggest.
That is more about Nijmegen being an unknown quantity than about Juventus being weak. This is the first game of a demanding group that will also take them to Real Sociedad, Rennes, Celta Vigo and AZ Alkmaar, plus trips to Cyprus and Israel for Omonia Nicosia and Hapoel Be’er Sheva. Starting well at home matters before that run of fixtures arrives.
Juventus – Nijmegen Betting Tips
Betting Tip: Juventus to win
Even with Yildiz, Thuram, McKennie and Zhegrova all in doubt, Juventus still have more proven quality to call on than a Nijmegen squad facing Italian opposition of this level for the first time. Home advantage in Turin, the extra motivation of opening a new competition on the front foot, and simple squad depth make Juventus the pick to get the win even if the performance is scrappy.
Betting Tip: Under 2.5 goals
First meetings between sides with no shared history rarely turn into goal-fests, and this one has extra reasons to stay tight. Juventus are patching together a forward line rather than fielding their strongest one, while Nijmegen have every incentive to stay compact and make the hosts work for anything they create. Backing the goals to stay low on a cautious opening night like this has stood up before, and it is worth checking the latest match odds closer to kick-off to see how the goals markets move.
Place these bets once you have checked the team news, since Juventus’s final squad list will say more about this game than anything written before it.
The treatment room is doing more talking than the form guide
Kenan Yildiz, arguably Juventus’s sharpest attacking threat, is carrying a foot injury that could keep him out for up to two months if it needs surgery. Khephren Thuram did not even make the squad for the recent Serie A game against Parma, with a specialist due to decide whether his own issue needs an operation. Weston McKennie and Edon Zhegrova were also absent that day. Whether any of that group is ready for a European opener in mid-September is genuinely unclear, so this is not a night to assume a full-strength front line.
There is one bright spot. Randal Kolo Muani has now signed permanently after his loan spells in Turin and at Tottenham, giving the manager a proven finisher to fall back on while others are assessed. Depth is still Juventus’s biggest weapon here. Even without two or three regular starters, the squad carries more European pedigree than a Nijmegen side taking on Italian opposition of this stature for the first time.
An unfamiliar opponent built for a cagey night
Nijmegen have already had a long route to this stage. Their summer began with a qualifying tie against Olympiacos and ended with a tougher assignment against Bodo/Glimt before they landed in the league phase rather than the Champions League group stage they were chasing. None of that history involves Juventus, so neither side has a head-to-head pattern to lean on.
That run through their second leg with Bodo/Glimt will have sharpened Nijmegen without answering whether they can live with a bigger, if bruised, Juventus side. Add a home team piecing together its attack rather than picking its strongest one, and a tight, low-event match looks more likely than an open one.
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