Serie A: AS Roma vs. Juventus Preview, Odds, Prediction

The second round of the Italian Serie A and we have a big derby between AS Roma and Juventus. Two fierce rivals who waged a lot of exciting battles over the recent few years, with Juventus coming out as the winner in the majority of them. The team from Turin is the undisputed ruler of the Italian football, and the way it seems they have no intentions to stop. On the other side, Roma is struggling when it comes to attacking the trophies. They have talented players with several big names besides them, but aren’t capable of providing consistency.

Preview

Roma (+260) played 0-0 with Verona in the opening round but later lost that game due to rule violations. One of their players wasn’t eligible to play against Hellas, and the FA decided to punish the team from the Italian capital with awarding the victory to the rivals.

It was a massive embarrassment for the entire organization, and even the faithful fans are criticizing this amateur move over the last several days.

Il Lupi had just three games during the preparation period. Two were against low-profile teams, Sambenedettese, 4-2, and against Frosinone, 4-1. The last test before the start of the championship was vs. Cagliari, 2-2.

Juventus (+100) played just two games since exiting the Champions League in the round of 16 against Lyon. The Old Lady beat Novara in the club-friendly, 5-0, and Sampdoria 3-0 in the opening fixture of the Serie A.

Kulusevski, the newcomer from Atalanta, scored the first goal of the season for the champions, Bonucci added one of his own, and Ronaldo sealed the game with his first hit of the season. Throughout the entire 90 minutes, Juve was much better, not allowing the guests from Genoa to have any chances.

Andrea Pirlo is the new head coach, with Maurizio Sarri leaving the club following elimination in the UCL, and many have certain doubts about the former playmaker.

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Diego Perotti, Javier Pastore, and Nicolo Zaniolo are not available for Roma due to respective injuries, and this is a big blow for the home team.

Frederico Bernardeschi is out, Alex Sandro, as well as the Dutch defender, Matthijs de Ligt, who won’t play until October.

Head to Head Games

Roma won the last meeting, and they did that in Turin, 1-3, but it was the finish of the season, with everything practically solved in the championship.

Previously, Juve eliminated Il Lupi in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals, 3-1, and defeated them in Rome in Serie a, 1-2. So all of their most recent three games saw both teams to score and also, over 2.5 goals.

Prediction

We are fully convinced that the tradition of seeing three goals will continue after Saturday’s event. Roma plays offensive, and they have a hard time breaking the tough and dense defenses, but against the sides who like to play ope as well, they score. Juventus, meanwhile, has a world-class attack, with Cristiano Ronaldo leading the way. So, generally speaking, it would be odd not to see goals.

Odds on our recommendation are -130.