Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
On March 5, Stadio Olimpico (Rome) will host the match of the 25th round of the Serie A, in which Roma will compete with Juventus. The battle will start at 20:45 CET.
Roma
The team so far has got only one serious complaint about its performance. That was a defeat to the most modest opponent, Cremonese, which happened in the Coppa Italia – 1-2. Perhaps, José Mourinho pragmatically sacrificed this tournament in favour of other, more important ones. By the way, the Italian team started the play-offs of the Europa League with a defeat in Salzburg, but a 0-1 score was compensated at home arena – Red Bull was beaten and that 2-0 success let the team go through to the next round. Still, the Serie A remains a priority for “the Special One”. Not everything is perfect there and the loss of points in the match with Lecce, which is a newcomer of the division, after a 1-1 draw proves it. The most important thing is that there is a real chance to finish in the top 4 – only Napoli is obviously unattainable there. Although the previous round turned into a disgrace – there happened one more failure to Cremonese, this time in the championship!
Juventus
The club, if not for the sanctions, would have been confidently in the quartet of the Calcio leaders. But who should Agnelli and his management blame for the new financial fraud? In this very case, it is necessary to speak about Allegri and his coaching staff. The return of Massimiliano did not become triumphant – the previous season was pretty weak. Moreover, there were five defeats in the Champions League group in the autumn. Still, he was able to save the team from Turin, and even after a crashing 15-point fine, “the Old Signora” returned quickly to a series of victories. There was only a misfire in the Europa League – a home 1-1 draw in the battle with Nantes, but it was followed by a 3-0 success in France. And the Calcio is characterized by a new victorious segment. For instance, Torino was beaten in the derby with an unexpected and spectacular 4-2 score.
The statistics of head-to-head matches
Roma has got only 1 win in 8 previous head-to-head matches. Juventus had got 3 wins in a row, but in August “the Wolves” achieved a 1-1 draw in Turin.
Predictions
Bookmakers give a slight advantage to the hosts. Nevertheless, Juventus seems to be strong and stable. Thus, we bet on its victory with “a 0 goal handicap” (odd: 2.04).
