Roma vs Salernitana

Stadio Olimpico is the venue as Europa League finalists Roma entertain season-long bottom-half strugglers Salernitana.

Despite attempting just one shot on goal in the return leg of their Europa League semi-final tie against Bayer Leverkusen, Roma held the Germans to a scoreless draw to reach the grand final as 1-0 aggregate winners. However, an underwhelming five-game winless league run (D3, L2) suggests Jose Mourinho has intentionally sacrificed domestic assignments for European glory, casting doubt on the home side’s effort to secure continental qualification through Serie A. Coming into proceedings, ‘I Giallorossi’ have drawn a blank in back-to-back league matches and risk going three straight top-flight outings without scoring for the first time since 1994. Speaking of Roma’s scoring woes, they’ve netted the fewest goals among sides starting this round in the top eight (45). However, a flawless three-game home record against Salernitana in Serie A (W3) should balance the odds.

On the other hand, Salernitana grabbed a late 1-0 home win over Atalanta last time out to end a three-match winless run in Serie A (D2, L1) and ensure a third consecutive top-flight season with three games to spare. Paulo Sousa’s men have been one of the poorest travelers in Serie A in 2023, picking up just one win on their nine league road trips this calendar year (D4, L3). The visitors are winless in their last seven away league games (D5, L2) and could set an unwanted piece of club history if they fail to bounce back in Rome. The last time they went winless on eight straight top-flight travels was in 1999. Conceding first would significantly derail Salernitana’s hopes of upsetting the apple cart at the Olimpico, given that they’ve failed to win ten of their 11 away league matches after falling behind this term (W1, D3, L7).