Next Saturday, 18th of October 2014, Roma will entertain Chievo at Stadio Olimpico for the seventh round of the Italian Serie A, on a match of crucial importance for the home side, especially after their upset against Juventus last round.

Roma started the new season at full speed, as it was expected, and not even their defeat against the Vecchia Signora two weeks ago is enough to stain their impressive walk so far. After a quality win over Fiorentina for Serie A’s day one, the team from the Italian capital city paved their way to the top of the table with some quality performances and excellent results. Roma are also being impressive on their return to the UEFA Champions League, as they have already smashed CSKA Moscow at home by 5-1 and have granted an remarkable draw at Etihad Stadium against the all-powerful Manchester City so far.

Rudi Garcia is the master of puppets at the Lupi as he has been reinventing his team after his arrival in the beginning of the last season. The French manager, who has recently been credited as one of the best head coaches in European football and was also compared to José Mourinho, was sent off two weeks ago for playing an imaginary violin as he watched the referee allegedly “hinder” his team’s performance during the match against the Italian champions, Juventus. After the match, Roma’s historical captain, Francesco Totti, echoed his manager’s laments as he also questioned the referee’s overall display: "For years the same old incidents keep happening. I don't know if we were beaten by referees, but we certainly were not beaten by Juventus tonight. Yes, we are angry, but also aware we are a great team and must lift our heads straight away. This was a match we really cared about, but Juventus ought to have their own League, as by hook or by crook they always win.”

For their home match against Chievo, Rudi Garcia will not be able to rely on the contribution of Manolas, who was also sent off against Juventus two weeks ago, and he is not certain if Ljajic, Rossi and Iturbe will recover in time for the match. Keita, Balzaretti, Strootman and Holebas will all miss the match due to injury.

As for Chievo, the Verona’s team is certainly not enjoying the season start they could be expecting. Chievo lost three of their last four matches and their only win of the season was back in September when they surprised Napoli at the San Paolo Stadium.

Their manager, Eugenio Corini, has plenty of work to do ahead of him if he wants to grant a place at the Italian top flight next season, but for now, things seem a bit complicated. Last round, Chievo lost at San Siro to an AC Milan in need of a win, thus adding another defeat to their tab, after granting only one point on the previous match against Empoli.

Roma

Stats: W-3 L-1 D-1

Recent Form - LDWWW

Chievo

Stats: W-1 L-3 D-1

Recent Form - LDLLW

Possible Line-ups

Roma (4-3-3) - De Sanctis - Maicon - Torosidis - Mbiwa - Cole - Florenzi - Pjanic - Nainggolan - Gervinho - Totti - Destro

Chievo (4-3-2-1) - Bardi - Dainelli - Zukanovic - Biraghi - Frey - Cofie - Birsa - Radovanovic - Hetemaj - Paloschi - Maxi López

Prediction

Roma 2 Chievo 0