Serie A: Juventus Ready to March on Rome

AS Roma vs Juventus

Round two of Serie A is upon us and we have a belter of a fixture to enjoy when the Old Lady heads to the capital city to take on Roma.

Serie A; Roma vs Juventus is the match of the weekend in Italy, a clash of the titans each with a score to settle. Roma won this fixture last time out with a victory in Turin, and now Juventus will be desperate to return the compliment and repeat their own triumph during their previous visit to the Stadio Olimpico last season.

Now managed by former playing legend Andrea Pirlo, I Bianconeri started with a win and look as determined as ever to tighten their grip on the Scudetto, meanwhile, Roma made a mess of their first fixture, though off the field rather than on it.

The Roma vs Juventus betting odds here at SBOTOP back the Old Lady, but not odds on with a price of 2.02, so we have an exciting clash in store.

Talking Points

Roma’s opening day catastrophe

I Giallorossi head coach Paulo Fonseca’s season began in a bizarre and disastrous way when he watched his side earn a 0-0 draw away to Verona, only to see it overturned by the Italian league which awarded the hosts a 3-0 win because Roma had fielded an ineligible player. Lega Serie A announced that the visitors had used a player over the age of 22, who had not been registered in their 25 man squad. Midfielder Amadou Diawara turned 23 in July and the club put it down to an administrative error.

Nevertheless, it was an embarrassing and expensive episode for Fonseca whose side ended the opening weekend in 19^th place.

So effectively this game is Roma’s opener, and the head coach will remind his players how easily they beat I Bianconeri at the end of last season, but he will be without at least one key man. Diego Perotti was in fine form when Roma ended Juventus’ unbeaten home run, with a 1-3 victory at the beginning of August; but the Argentine looks doubtful, as does Nicolo Zaniolo.

Serie A: Diego Perotti scored twice and set up another as Roma end Juventus’ unbeaten home run — Roma’s Diego Perotti celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal against Juventus at the Allianz stadium

Roma do have plenty of guile in their team with two former Premier League attacking midfielders in their ranks. Both Henrikh Mkhitaryan, formerly of Manchester United, and ex-Chelsea forward Pedro are capable of turning a defence inside out and have an eye for the spectacular.

Good start for Pirlo

Having returned to the Allianz Arena earlier this year as U23 coach, Andrea Pirlo has landed the big job following the sacking of Maurizio Sarri, and the Bianconeri’s new head coach got off to a winning start as he watched his side dispatch Sampdoria 3-0 in the opening round of fixtures.

Swedish midfielder Dejan Kulusevski is back in the fold after a season on loan at Parma and he scored the opener, while defensive lynchpin Leo Bonucci and talisman Cristiano Ronaldo were also on the score-sheet.

In the latest injury news in Turin, Bonucci’s centre back partner Matthijs de Ligt is sidelined, as is wide man Federico Bernardeschi. But Pirlo’s squad runs deep and Juventus are favourites, at odds of 1.68 to win a tenth successive Scudetto, with Inter at 3.00 and Napoli and Atalanta in pursuit.

No Suarez for the Old Lady

The Uruguayan seemed destined to join Cristiano Ronaldo and co at the Allianz Stadium, but a last minute switch to Atletico Madrid for Luis Suarez came as a surprise to everyone. Juventus had no remaining spots for non-EU players in their squad, and it seems Suarez’ Italian citizenship exam was investigated amidst claims that he may have known the contents of the exam before he sat it!

History

I Bianconeri have had the best of the head to head Roma vs Juventus results, winning 29 of the 60 meetings between these two teams, since 1993, while Roma have won 15 and there have been 16 draws.

Roma gave her a nasty surprise back in August, but the Old Lady beat I Giallorossi twice in two weeks back in January, once in the league in Rome and then in the Coppa Italia quarter-final.

Betting Tip

	AS Roma vs Juventus	Total Goals 2-3 @ 1.96
	September 28, 02:45 (GMT+8)

Roma are unbeaten in five games at home and they are at odds of 3.30 to win this clash with the draw at 3.35.

While an empty stadium dilutes home advantage significantly, this will be no easy ride for the champions and a score-line of 1-1 at odds of 6.18 could be a good long shot bet.

I think there will be goals in this game but not a hatful; as neither team will give any ground easily.