Sunday’s Serie A action rounds off with a mouth-watering showdown between Juventus and Roma at the Allianz Stadium. After a scintillating league start, the home team heads into this heavily-anticipated clash as substantial pre-match favorites.
Juventus failed to impress in pre-season, suggesting Thiago Motta’s tenure could be off to a slow start. However, the Turin giants have excelled in the early exchanges. After a 3-0 humbling of newly-promoted Como on the opening Serie A weekend, they trounced Hellas Verona via an identical scoreline on Monday.
Juventus Next Gen product Samuel Mbangula ran the show against Como before standout striker Dusan Vlahovic took the spotlight. The Serbian superstar netted on either side of halftime at Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi to open his account for the season and inspire his side to the best possible start.
Unlike Juventus, Roma have stuttered at the beginning of the season. Daniele De Rossi’s side couldn’t find a way past Cagliari’s defense in a tepid 0-0 draw on matchday one before slumping to a morale-wracking 2-1 home defeat to last season’s relegation fighters Empoli a week ago.
As such, visiting fans would be forgiven for taking this trip tormented by an irresistible sense of trepidation. Paulo Dybala’s decision to turn down lucrative approaches from the Middle East to stay at the Stadio Olimpico could perhaps bolster Roma’s spirits amidst a dreadful season opening.
However, only on-field success counts as Roma bid to better a frustrating sixth-place finish last term and secure a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2018/19.
Match Preview
Juventus
Juventus enter round three having scored 6+ goals for the first time in seven seasons. Motta has seemingly laid the foundation for a new dawn in Turin and looks to be on his way to reinstating the record-time Italian champions as genuine Scudetto contenders after four disappointing years.
Another victory looms as Juventus won this corresponding fixture last term by a narrow 1-0 scoreline to extend their unbeaten home run against Roma to four matches (W3, D1). All those three wins saw the Bianconeri keep a clean sheet, which bodes well for their hopes of starting a new league campaign with three straight triumphs ‘to nil’ for the second time in the last 18 Serie A campaigns.
More confidence stems from Juventus’ summer dealings. Teun Koopmeiners, Nicolas Gonzalez, and Francisco Conceicao have joined the club during the week, increasing the squad’s potential ahead of their impending Champions League return.
Roma
Back-to-back winless league outings in the early stage of the 2024/25 season have hardly caught Roma supporters by surprise. De Rossi’s men have failed to win their opening two Serie A games for the fourth time in the last six years. Unfortunately, the Allianz Stadium isn’t a place where they can realistically hope to turn the corner.
Since Juventus moved to their new stadium over a decade ago, Roma have lost 13 of the 15 encounters between the two teams on this ground (W1, D1). On a rare positive note, De Rossi has addressed Roma’s travel sickness since replacing Jose Mourinho in the dugout in January.
Under his stewardship, Roma have only lost three of their 14 away matches across all competitions (W5, D6), suggesting this could be an opportunity for the Giallorossi to end their barren run in Turin. However, four consecutive Serie A road trips without a win (D2, L2) tell a different story.
Team News
In addition to long-term absentee Paul Pogba, Juventus will be without Arkadiusz Milik, Filip Kostic, Khephren Thuram, Timothy Weah, and Conceicao. Koopmeiners and Gonzalez are available for selection and could make their Bianconeri debuts this weekend.
As for Roma, summer arrival Enzo Le Fee is the only name on the injury list. Ex-Juventus winger Matias Soule will have an added motive on Sunday. The Argentine starlet should partner with Artem Dovbyk and Dybala in the front third.
Juventus vs Roma Potential Line-ups
Juventus (4-2-3-1): Michele Di Gregorio; Nicolo Savona, Federico Gatti, Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal; Manuel Locatelli, Nicolo Fagioli; Andrea Cambiaso, Kenan Yildiz, Samuel Mbangula; Dusan Vlahovic.
Roma (4-2-3-1): Mile Svilar; Zeki Celik, Gianluca Mancini, Evan Ndicka, Angelino; Leandro Paredes, Bryan Cristante; Paulo Dybala, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Matias Soule; Artem Dovbyk.
Juventus vs Roma Prediction
With momentum on their side, Juventus are in pole position to strengthen their home record against Roma, and we back them to do just that.
Prediction: Juventus to Win
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