The second match of the week in Serie A takes place on Friday night as Roma make the trip to Verona to take on Chievo.
They both a need win but for different reasons. Chievo are rooted to the foot of the table and unless they begin picking up wins quickly, they are sure to be relegated this season. Roma on the other hand are hoping to finish in the top four this season and qualify for the Champions League. Third place is still a realistic possibility.
Chievo are up against it this season and they have been cut adrift at the bottom of Serie A. Trends show they have won one of their last twenty matches in all competitions. Their previous fixture, which was last weekend, resulted in a 2-2 draw at Empoli and it was a disappointing result considering Chievo were 2-0 up.
Chievo have won only one of their last twenty Serie A games and that came at home against Frosinone, a team just one place above them in the table on the 29th December.
Interestingly, trends show Chievo have lost only one of their last five home games in Serie A, picking up one win and three draws. They held both Lazio and Inter Milan to 1-1 draws in December and will hope to give another good account of themselves in this match.
Roma picked up a point at home in their big game against AC Milan last weekend in Serie A. They fell 1-0 behind but came back to take a point thanks to an early equaliser in the second half. It was a better performance than their previous outing which saw a shock 7-1 hammering at the hands of Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia.
Trends show Roma have failed to win any of their last three games and prior to the two matches above they were held to a 3-3 draw at Atalanta. Roma took a 3-0 lead in that game before allowing their opponents to come back.
Away form is not great and Roma have won just one of their last seven away matches in Serie A. The win came at Parma and Roma have kept only one clean sheet in each of those seven league games.
Looking ahead to the team news and Chievo are definitely without Andrea Seculin and have fitness concerns over Sergio Pellissier, Nenad Tomovic and Joel Chukwuma Obi.
Roma will travel without defender Juan Jesus who is still recovering from a knee injury and Cengiz Under is also unlikely to play any part due to a thigh problem. Diego Perotti and William Bianda have a muscle and thigh injury respectively.
Simply put, this is a must win game for Roma. They cannot afford another poor performance and if they play anything close to their best they will have enough to take maximum points.