Italian Serie A
2018-12-22 - Juventus vs AS Roma
A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser
Football: Italy Serie A
22nd December 2018 – Kickoff 18:00 [Turin, Italy Time]
Introduction:
Match of the day as Juventus leaders of Serie A welcomes the visit of AS Roma in seventh spot. Eusebio Di Francesco is still just holding on to his job at Roma but now faces an uphill task against Juventus who are the runaway leaders in Serie A.
Juventus
After beating Torino 1-0, Juventus have won their last seven Serie A games in a row now. The last time they failed to win was in the 1-1 draw against Genoa at home in October. They also have kept a clean sheet in their last five matches. However their only goal came from the penalty spot from none other then Cristiano Ronaldo after Simone Zaza’s error gifted them a penalty.
The win over Torino means that they have a eight points lead over Napoli in second spot. In the Champions League they will face Atletico Madrid in February as they have a very tough draw.
As for the team news, the likes of Sami Khedira, Emre Can and Leonardo Spinazzola have recovered from their injuries and are available for selection. But they are still without the likes of Juan Cuadrado, Andrea Barzagli and Joao Cancelo who are out injured. Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini are on the bench with De Rossi getting back to fitness.
AS Roma
They managed to beat Genoa 3-2 at the Stadio Olimpico last week. Goalkeeper Robin Olsen made two terrible mistakes but they were lucky as only one of those mistakes were punished, as VAR disallowed a goal after his second one. The win means Di Francesco will live to fight another day. A heavy defeat against Juventus here could well result in his sacking.
Roma are currently in seventh spot and have three points behind AC Milan in fourth spot. Before the win over Genoa, Roma had failed to win each of their last five games in all competitions. They often looked lost in most of their performances for long spells.
The good news is that they will have the return of Edin Dzeko for this match. In the absence of Dzeko and Daniele De Rossi, the younger players lacked leadership and have shown that they are not ready to take over from theduo's boots. Cengiz Under, Nicolò Zaniolo and Justin Kluivert are expected to start alongside Dzeko. It will be interesting to see if a combination of experience and youth can trouble Juventus's backline.
Past Meetings:
Since the Juventus Allianz Stadium in Turin have opened in 2011, AS Roma have lost all eight games they have played there.
The Pick:
Go for AS Roma and accept the 1 1/2 ball Asian Handicap.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Juventus 1-0 AS Roma
