Roma vs Juventus

Roma and Juventus are set to square off in a tasty-looking Serie A fixture at the Stadio Olimpico.

A lacklustre 3-1 defeat at AC Milan last time out sees Roma enter this round a whopping 14 points off the pace in Serie A, though a coveted fourth-place finish remains within touching distance. Sat six points adrift of fourth-placed Atalanta, ‘I Giallorossi’ return to the Stadio Olimpico, where they have experienced mixed fortunes across their last three Serie A fixtures (W1, D1, L1). Since each of those matches won/lost saw the winner on the day keep a clean sheet and secure a 2+ goal margin, scoring first could be of the essence. What’s more, Jose Mourinho’s men have lost all but one of the nine Serie A games when conceding first this season (W1). But Juventus’ visit to the nation’s capital could inflict more damage on Roma’s top-four hopes, as ‘I Giallorossi’ have lost the most Serie A matches (84) to this opposition in the competition’s history.

In the meantime, Juventus came from a 1-0 HT deficit to hold Napoli to a hard-earned 1-1 home draw in their opening Serie A outing of 2022, extending their unbeaten league run to six matches (W4, D2). Interestingly, each of Juve’s four wins in that six-game sequence yielded an identical 2-0 scoreline whilst the two draws featured the same 1-1 score each. However, ‘I Biancocelesti’ have faltered in front of goal on the back of Cristiano Ronaldo’s blockbuster return to Manchester United, netting a mere 28 goals from 20 Serie A fixtures so far, their worst scoring tally at this stage of the season since 1999/2000. On the bright side, though, head coach Massimiliano Allegri has gone unbeaten in three of his five Serie A meetings with Mourinho (W2, D1). In fact, he has won more Serie A games against the ‘Special One’ than any other manager.