Juventus claimed an important 2-1 win in the 1st leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final against Inter Milan on Tuesday night, while Roma’s last action was on Sunday when they beat Verona 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.
Juventus sit a point and a place behind Roma in the Serie A table but do have a game in hand on Saturday’s guests.
Recent results between these two clubs have been mixed, with Roma winning two, Juventus winning three and the pair drawing one of their last six encounters in league and cup. When the two sides locked horns in September for their reverse league fixture, the game ended all square at two goals apiece.
Each of the last four meetings between the two clubs have produced over 2.5 goals and have seen both teams score, which suggests that there will be goals in this weekend’s clash.
Juventus are the clear form favourites for Saturday’s match after they secured five wins and suffered just one defeat from their last six matches. Roma have lost tow, drawn one and won three of their last six fixtures and have failed to keep a clean sheet during that period.
Over 2.5 goals have been scored in two of Juve’s last three outings, while both teams have scored in four of Roma’s last six matches. Over 2.5 goals have also been scored in each of Roma’s last six fixtures, which adds further weight to our prediction for lots of goalmouth action on Saturday.
The hosts will be without the suspended Rodrigo Bentancur, while Franco Israel has a head injury and Paulo Dybala has an issue with his knee which could keep the duo out of Saturday’s clash.
Lorenzo Pellegrini is suspended for Roma and Chris Smalling, Pedro Rodriguez and Nicolo Zaniolo could all miss out through injury.
All of the stats point towards there being plenty of goals in this game and with the home advantage and form in their favour, it’s hard to see anything other than a home win for Juve this weekend.
Ronaldo became the highest-scoring player of all time when he netted twice against Inter in midweek, and the Portuguese star will be looking to add to his tally (760-goals for club and country) on Saturday.
Roma look good going forward and there is a good chance that goals will be scored by both teams, but Juventus and Ronaldo are expected to come out on top.