Roma vs AC Milan

Stadio Olimpico forms the backdrop for a top-four Serie A six-pointer between arch-rivals Roma and AC Milan.

After three straight league wins by an aggregate score of 7-0, Roma slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Atalanta earlier this week, surrendering a coveted fourth place to non-other than Milan. But with nothing but goal difference separating the sides ahead of the kick-off, extending a two-game winning home league streak would see ‘I Giallorossi’ regain control of the final Champions League qualification spot. Jose Mourinho’s men have been nothing short of impressive at the Olimpico in 2023, winning seven of their eight top-flight home outings ‘to nil’ (L1), with no side from Europe’s top-five leagues coming close to matching their unparalleled defensive solidity. They must showcase that resilience to arrest an underwhelming six-match winless H2H run against Milan in Serie A (D2, L4).

In the meantime, Milan took advantage of Roma’s slip-up in Bergamo to return to the top four with a routine 2-0 home triumph over bottom-half Lecce, making it six competitive games without losing (W3, D3). Stefano Pioli’s men cannot rest on their laurels and should rather address their growing form woes on the road after managing just one win in their last six away games across all competitions (D3, L2). What’s even more concerning for ‘I Rossoneri’ is that they have netted under 1.5 goals on eight of their last nine competitive travels. But having won back-to-back Serie A visits to the Olimpico, Milan could register a third consecutive top-flight win away to Roma for the first time since 1990.