A must win match for the Rossoneri if they want to keep their title hopes alive, as they visit the Giallorossi in Roma tonight. Who will have the last laugh? Serie A football continues with an important match later on. This is Roma Vs AC Milan – La Battaglia Della Capitale.
Match Preview
Two places and five points seperate both teams in the standing. Milan are struggling as of late with 2 consecutive defeats in the league and will look to bounce back. On the other hand, Roma are still unbeaten at home as they look to protect that record again tonight. Also, both teams secured qualification in the Europa League last week, in different circumstances though. What should we expect from this game? Let’s take a look in our match analysis.
AS Roma
The Giallorossi remain the sole unbeaten home team remaining in Serie A this season and have collected the most points (30) of any of the 20 sides in the league from their 12 matches at the Olimpico. Beaten just once in their last five matches, to Juventus, Roma will look to build on that momentum to climb back to the top, to secure European football next season. Will they be able to do it against this Milan side?
In addition, Roma were able to seal their last 16 place in the Europa League as they beat Braga 5-1 on aggregate. They will face Ukranian champions Shakhtar Donetsk next month. However, their focus must remain on the domestic league at the moment. With a win tonight, Paulo Fonseca’s men will climb back to 3rd place. However, they face a tricky challenge as they have not won against a top-six side yet and that is a bit worrying. They lost against Lazio, Atalanta and drew against both Milan sides as well as Juventus, which is not enough if you want to stay on the top side of the table. A must win game for them as well, since they are only 4 points away from 7th place Napoli, with the Azzuri having one game in hand as well. Does this team have enough to secure the win tonight?
AC Milan
As for the Rossoneri, a good result is all they care about at the moment, which should be the case. After two consecutive losses in Serie A, as well as two draws in the Europa League, Milan will be looking to bounce back with a win today. Despite qualifying for the last 16, Milan’s performance was not that convincing, especially the on of their captain. Romagnoli failed to close down his man against Red Star Belgrade and that resulted in a goal conceded, which is very frustrating since he made the same mistake vs. Inter as well. A clash with Man United is on the books for Milan, with the English club is the other favorite to win this competition.
However, the Rossoneri must stay focused on the scudetto, especially having maintained top spot for 21 rounds before letting it slip away. Juventus are breathing down their neck, just 3 points away as Milan will look to extend that tonight. What is more worrying for them is that they failed to score in both their successive defeats in the league. They could lose three Serie A matches in a row without scoring for the first time since April 1967. A win tonight is the only good result for Pioli’s men to silence their critics, especially for Ibrahimovic. The swedish King made the headlines recently as he will be present at the Sanremo Music Festival next week, inevitably missing some training sessions with the team. Therefore, Zlatan will be keen to have a good performance tonight.
Team News
Roma will be without several key players for the clash tomorrow, including their big star Edin Dzeko. Borja Mayoral could be the logical option to replace him. In defence, Chris Smalling and Ibanez are injured, as Fonesca will look to shuffle his backline again. In addition, Zaniolo and Santon remain long term absentees with their injuries.
As for Milan, it will not be a surprise if Pioli opted for the same starting XI as the derby, despite the severe critics over Romagnoli. Given that Ismael Bennacer and Mario Mandzukic are still injured and will miss out, the attacking options for Milan remain the same. Sandro Tonali and Franck Kessie should once again link up in midfield. Ante Rebic should also keep his spot on the left-wing ahead of Rafael Leao.
Prediction & Current Odds
Roma Vs AC Milan – La Battaglia Della Capitale. Bottom line is, we expect this to be a tight game since both teams are in need of a precious win. For Milan they will have to bounce back as the league is slipping away and the opponents are closing in from behind. For Roma, a good result will make them jump back to 3rd place as they look to secure European football for next season. However, the Giallorossi’s sturggle against top six teams could get back to haunt them again, especially with the injuries they currently have. We expect both teams to score, with Milan being the closest team to secure a win, however Roma’s impressive home record could be in their favore again this time. A draw looks like the most logical bet to make.
- Draw: 3.50
- Over 2.5 goals: 1.57
- Both Team To Score : 1.50
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