Juventus vs Roma
Italy Serie A
Date: Saturday, 6 February 2021
Kick-Off at 17.00 UK
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Turin.
All eyes will be on Allianz Stadium when Juventus and Roma go head to head in the Serie A derby on Saturday evening.
The Bianconeri are on a three-game winning run in the Italian top flight, but they need to keep on raising their form if they are to defend the trophy.
Juve are seven points behind league leaders Milan in the Serie A standings, meaning that this has to go down as yet another must-win game for the Italian giants.
Bentacur is banned for the match, while Dybala remains in the recovery room. Aaron Ramsey is rated doubtful for the match.
The Giallorossi, on the other hand, aim to build on back-to-back wins over Spezia and Verona.
Even though Roma have been scoring goals for fun of late, we are tempted to put our money on Juventus, who have been showing signs of improvement in 2021.
Edin Dzeko is unlikely to play against Juve following his bust up with manager Paulo Fonseca, while Pellegrini is banned.
Juventus vs Roma Head-to-head
Teams Juventus Roma played so far 49 matches.
Juventus won 25 direct matches. Roma won 11 matches. 13 matches ended in a draw. On average in direct matches both teams scored a 2.69 goals per Match.
Juventus vs Roma Prediction
Juventus in actual season average scored 2.25 goals per match. In 14 (100.00%) matches played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 9 (64.29%) matches in season 2021 played at home was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Roma average scored 2.23 goals per match in season 2021. In 12 (92.31%) matches played away was total goals (team and opponent) Over 1.5 goals. In 11 (84.62%) matches played away team was total goals (team and opponent) Over 2.5 goals.
Team News:
Andrea Pirlo remains without last term's MVP Paulo Dybala, whose season has been scarred by a series of enforced absences, while another injury-prone talent, Aaron Ramsey, is again doubtful this week.
After being rested for cup duty in midweek, Wojciech Szczesny, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini are all expected to return to the Juventus XI, with Juan Cuadrado and either Danilo or Alex Sandro featuring at full-back.
Midfield mainstay Rodrigo Bentancur is suspended, so will most probably be replaced by Adrien Rabiot, with Alvaro Morata coming back in for Dejan Kulusevski up front.
In addition to longer-term absentees Federico Fazio, Nicolo Zaniolo and Pedro, Roma have lost Chris Smalling to injury and Lorenzo Pellegrini to suspension for the trek north to Turin. Therefore, Marash Kumbulla will be drafted into the back three and Bryan Cristante could start in midfield.
It is expected that Edin Dzeko will be included in the squad following his clash with coach Paulo Fonseca, but Borja Mayoral should keep the starting jersey as Roma's main striker, with support from Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Cuadrado, Bonucci, Chiellini, Danilo; McKennie, Arthur, Rabiot, Chiesa; Morata, Ronaldo
Roma possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Mancini, Ibanez, Kumbulla; Karsdorp, Villar, Veretout, Cristante, Spinazzola; Mkhitaryan; Mayoral