Sunday’s Serie A action rounds off at the Stadio Olimpico with a handsomely-looking clash between Roma and Fiorentina. A battle for the European spots is heating up and neither side can settle for anything less than three points.
Roma pulled off a jaw-dropping comeback at San Siro last weekend. Despite trailing reigning champions Milan by two goals in the 87th minute, Jose Mourinho’s men hit back twice in a matter of minutes to hold the Rossoneri to a 2-2 draw.
After extending their unbeaten league run to four matches (W1, D3), Roma edged Serie B outfit Genoa in midweek Coppa Italia action. Paulo Dybala was on the scoresheet after coming from the bench to give the Giallorossi a 1-0 home triumph, setting them up nicely for this match-up.
Fiorentina did equally well in their respective Coppa Italia tie against Sampdoria. Antonin Barak slotted home in the 25th minute to hand Vincenzo Italiano’s men a narrow 1-0 victory over Serie A relegation candidates.
That success followed up a last-gasp 2-1 league win over Sassuolo. However, La Viola have no time for celebrations if they’re to fight their way back into the European promotion race. With sixth-placed Atalanta already eight points away, Fiorentina must pursue an unlikely win in the capital.
The same applies to Roma, who enter this round at the periphery of the top six. Although they sit in seventh, fourth-placed Inter are only three points away, highlighting the significance of picking up three points on Sunday.
Preview
Roma
Roma’s underwhelming record of three draws from their last four Serie A outings has seen them build a reputation as ‘stalemate specialists.’ Against this backdrop, only one of their eight home league games this season has finished level (W4, L3), courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Torino on the stroke of the World Cup break.
Encouragingly for the Olimpico faithful, Roma dispatched Bologna 1-0 on January 4 to arrest a disappointing run of three consecutive home league fixtures without a win (D1, L2). And since they’ve suffered just one defeat in their last eight Serie A meetings with Fiorentina (W5, D2), they should be confident about posting back-to-back home wins for the first time since August.
Player to Watch: Paulo Dybala
Dybala returned to the scoreboard against Genoa on Thursday following an uneventful showing against Milan last weekend. The Argentine leads the scoring charts at Roma this season with five goals and two assists in Serie A. So the visitors will know where the danger comes from.
Fiorentina
Despite their European-worthy exploits in the past couple of seasons, Fiorentina have rarely been a thorn in Roma’s side of late, especially at the Olimpico. They’ve suffered eight defeats on their last ten Serie A visits to the capital (W1, D1), conceding a whopping 25 goals at an average of 2.5 per game.
Ominously for Italiano, his men have gone winless in their last 13 top-flight encounters against sides from the administrative region of Lazio staged in the first half of the season (D3, L10). In fact, they’ve lost their last seven such contests in a row. But Fiorentina can still draw confidence from only losing one of their four most recent Serie A travels (W2, D1).
Player to Watch: Antonin Barak
After firing Fiorentina past Sampdoria on Thursday, Barak could regain his place in Italiano’s starting lineup. Having failed to score in his first six Serie A appearances against Roma, the Czech Republic international has netted in the last two against them. So he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Team News
Apart from long-term absentee Georginio Wijnaldum, Roma have avoided picking up fresh injury concerns. As such, Mourinho can call upon his best starting XI for this showdown, especially after resting some key players against Genoa in midweek.
On the other hand, Fiorentina will be without highly-rated winger Andrea Sottil, who has yet to recover from a back injury. The same goes for Rolando Mandragora, while Lucas Martinez Quarta reportedly picked up a knock against Sampdoria.
Roma vs Fiorentina Potential Lineups
Roma (3-4-1-2): Rui Patricio; Gianluca Mancini, Chris Smalling, Roger Ibanez; Zeki Celik, Bryan Cristante, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Nicola Zalewski; Paulo Dybala; Nicolo Zaniolo, Tammy Abraham.
Fiorentina (4-2-3-1): Pietro Terracciano; Dodo, Nikola Milenkovic, Igor, Cristiano Biraghi; Alfred Duncan, Sofyan Amrabat; Antonin Barak, Giacomo Bonaventura, Christian Kouame; Arthur Cabral.
Roma vs Fiorentina Prediction
Three of the last four Serie A duels between Roma and Fiorentina at the Olimpico have seen over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet, highlighting the potential for a high-scoring contest.
With both sides blowing hot and cold this term, we’d rather avoid giving one or another the upper hand. Nonetheless, neutrals should be in for a treat.
Prediction: Over 2.5 goals
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