Roma vs Juventus

Stadio Olimpico forms the backdrop for a heavyweight Serie A clash between Roma and Juventus.

A hat-trick of 1-0 league victories, bookended by a narrow triumph at Lecce last weekend, extended Roma’s winning streak in Serie A to seven games, firing them within touching distance of the top four. Veteran manager Claudio Ranieri now aims to lead ‘I Giallorossi’ to eight consecutive league wins for the first time since March 2016. Finding the opener could be of the essence, especially with Roma boasting a flawless home record against breaking the deadlock in Serie A this season (W8). Furthermore, Ranieri’s charges have racked up an eye-catching 12 victories from their last 13 outings at the Stadio Olimpico across all competitions (D1). On a less positive note, the hosts have failed to win any of their seven top-flight matches against sides starting this round in the top five (D3, L4).

On the other hand, Juventus squeezed past bottom-half Genoa 1-0 last time out as interim manager Igor Tudor passed his first test with flying colors. Tudor replaced Thiago Motta at the helm during the international break as the record-time Italian champions sacked the former Bologna boss after a pair of humiliating league losses to Atalanta (4-0) and Fiorentina (3-0). That latter marked only their second away defeat in 14 Serie A matches this term (W6, D6), though both losses came on their last four trips. It was also the first time Juventus had failed to open the scoring on the road after doing so in seven consecutive away league games beforehand.