Roma vs Juventus Prediction - Will The Lupi Impose The Third Defeat Of The Season To The Serie A Champions?

Next Sunday, Roma will entertain the new Italian champions Juventus at Stadio Olimpico for round 37 of the Italian Serie A on what will be the most important match of the weekend regardless of the fact that the Vecchia Signora has already lifted this season’s trophy.

After last weekend’s surprising defeat 4-1 against Catania (a team that is struggling for “survival” at the end of table), Roma will now face their main contenders this season, who won the Serie A title last Sunday even without entering the pitch. Due to Roma’s heavy defeat at Sicily, Juventus were coronated as the Italian champions once again and the Lupi had to settle for the second place. Nevertheless, Rudi Garcia’s work at Roma was of undeniable quality, as in just one season he managed to recover a team that was on the verge of mediocrity and transform them into a consistent and top quality side.

For the match against the Vecchia Signora, Roma’s French head coach will still not be able to count on Balzaretti, and on the Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman, both sidelined due to long term injuries.

As for Juventus, the match against Roma will just be yet another opportunity for them to prove they deserved to be coronated as the new Serie A champions and that they are indeed better that the capital city side.

Last Monday, Juventus defeated Atalanta 1-0 at home, knowing beforehand that they reconquered the title, given Roma’s defeat against Catania. Although they are happy with their new conquest, Antonio Conte and his players are still digesting the elimination from the UEFA Europa League last Thursday in detriment of Benfica. The Italian head coach told the media that he still believes that his side was unlucky on both semi-finals matches and that Juventus deserved to be in the final, which will interestingly take place at their own stadium in Turin.

For the clash against Roma, Antonio Conte will have no major headaches on the medical department, since he will probably have all the players at his disposal.

When both sides met at Turin back in January, Juventus completely trashed Roma 3-0, imposing them their first defeat of the season after seventeen unbeaten matches. The Lupi will certainly seek revenge during next Sunday’s match and, despite their last weekend’s upset, they have been putting up far more consistent performances than Juventus lately.

Roma

Stats: W-26 L-3 D-7

Recent Form - WWWWL

Juventus

Stats: W-31 L-2 D-3

Recent Form - WWWWW

Possible Line-ups

Roma (4-3-3) - De Sanctis - Maicon - Tolói - Castan - Dodô - De Rossi - Pjanic - Nainggolan - Totti -  Ljajic - Gervinho

Juventus (3-5-2)-  Buffon - Bonucci - Chiellini - Cáceres - Pirlo - Pogba - Vidal - Padoin  - Marchisio - Giovinco - Llorente

Prediction

Roma 1 Juventus 0