Juventus Vs AS Roma Betting Tips & Preview
Juventus and Roma lock horns in Turin on Saturday evening seeking to close the gap on the top three in Serie A. Juve have steadied their ship since changing manager in late October after enduring an eight-match winless sequence in all competitions. They are closing in on the top four now, but still trail Roma by four points despite Saturday's visitors losing two of their last three games.
Roma have yet to draw a single Serie A match this season but have featured in 10 single-goal games and a stalemate is surely looming soon.
Team news
The hosts are plotting without the suspended Teun Koopmeiners after the Dutch midfielder hit the threshold for yellow cards with his caution in last weekend's win at Bologna.
Dusan Vlahovic (groin) and Federico Gatti (knee) have missed the last few games for Juve, while Arkadiusz Milik is on the long-term absentee list.
Roma have bid farewell to Africa Cup of Nations-bound defender Evan Ndicka and midfielder Neil El Aynaoui, while Artem Dovbyk is in the treatment room but Zeki Celik – rumoured as a possible Juve transfer target in recent weeks – is available for selection again following his suspension.
Tip 1 – Draw @ 23/10
Four of the last six meetings between these Italian rivals have ended all square and another stalemate in Turin could be in the offing.
Roma are four points better off than Juve in the Serie A standings after 15 games, though the Old Lady are making up ground since dispensing with Igor Tudor as manager in October.
Indeed, new boss Luciano Spalletti has seven wins and three draws since taking the reins, his only defeat coming at champions Napoli earlier this month.
Juve remain unbeaten here this season in all competitions and they have already beaten league leaders Inter in Turin.
Roma have proved an all or nothing team in Serie A, with 10 wins and five losses in 15 games – but a first stalemate of the season would come as no surprise here.
Gian Piero Gasperini would likely welcome that outcome, which would ensure the capital side has lost just one of the last seven head-to-heads against Juve.
Tip 2 – Under 2.5 goals @ 4/7
This doesn't have the makings of a goal-glut.
Juve were 4-3 winners against Inter here in September and then played out a 4-4 draw with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League a few days later, but those games are the exceptions to the rule.
They have played eight home games since and both teams have scored in just four of them, with under 2.5 goals obliging in six of the eight.
Both teams have scored in just three of Roma's 15 games in Serie A so far, with an incredible 10 of those fixtures finishing on a 1-0 scoreline – with five wins and five defeats so far.
Over 2.5 goals has only landed three times in 15 Serie A games so far for Roma, while both teams have scored in just one of their last six games on the road in all competitions.
Tip 3 – Under 8.5 corners @ 23/20
A relatively low corner count looks probable here.
Five of the last eight Serie A games featuring these sides have come in under 8.5 corners, with just one of those games reaching double figures.
In those games, Juve and Roma have routinely been contributing on the lower end of the bargain.
Juve have tallied four, none, one and three corners in their last four league games while for Roma the figures are six, one, two and five.
With a low-scoring affair expected the corner count could also be low, with plenty of possession football and perhaps a dearth of proper goalmouth action.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change
