Roma vs Juventus Preview

Roma vs Juventus
Sunday 30 August 2009,
Stadio Olimpico
Kick-Off: 17:00

Roma
A.S. Roma come into an important match against Juventus after a week to forget.

On Thursday, August 20, after having gone 3-1 up away against MFK Kosice in the first leg of Europa League qualifications, they conceded two late goals to nullify what would have certainly been a guaranteed ticket to the group stage of the competition.

Then, on Sunday, they conceded an 83rd minute winner away against Genoa in their opening match of the 2009/10 Serie A campaign.

Roma’s attack has worked wonderfully in the past two games as they have scored five goals, three of which were scored by Francesco Totti. Their defence, however, will be under fire as Juventus will surely be looking to capitalise on every opportunity presented.

With Philippe Mexes and Juan still out, Luciano Spalletti will be looking to plug holes in the defence with anything that works. Changes in the back line that started against Genoa (Burdisso, Andreolli, Casetti, Motta) are likely to be made with John Arne Riise and Max Tonetto as possible replacements.

Juventus
Juventus manager Ciro Ferrara will be looking to add to a decent start to his managerial career with Juventus.

Ferrara, formerly the assistant manager of Italy, is off to a satisfactory start as Juventus beat Chievo 1-0 in their opening match of the 2009/10 season.

An early first half goal from in form striker Vincenzo Iaquinta was enough to seal the deal for Ferrara’s men. Amauri was selected ahead of David Trezeguet to partner Iaquinta in the absence of Alessandro Del Piero, a partnership Ferrara is said to favour ahead of the trip to Rome.

Diego, recently signed from Werder Bremen, is an exciting player that should turn some heads in Italy in the near future. He will be asked to fill the large shoes of Pavel Nedved after his illustrious career at Juventus reached its end.

Prediction

Both Juventus vs Roma meetings between the two clubs last season ended in Juventus wins (2-0 at home and 4-1 away), and Juve may feel they have the upper hand coming into the match.

Roma’s depleted back line will certainly be a concern for Spalletti, who will be trying to avoid the horrible start that plagued Roma’s 2008/09 season. He’ll most likely continue with his attacking minded football and rely on his captain Totti to continue his excellent goalscoring run.

If Juventus are able to neutralise Francesco Totti and Roma wingers Stefano Guberti and Jeremy Menez, they should come out victorious. Another fine performance from Iaquinta could provide all the attacking tools necessary to break down an undermanned Roma defence.

AS Roma – Juventus Prediction: Roma 1 - 2 Juventus

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