AS Roma and Juventus Square off in Serie A Derby
Published December 17, 2016 by Florin P
Juventus aims 9th consecutive home win to extend lead at the top of Serie A, AS Roma creeps ever closer (7:45 p.m UK Time).
At one point it looked like Juventus has gotten away with another Serie A trophy. AS Roma miraculously rebounded and a victory against the leader would bring the team one point behind Juventus. Their best results were obtained in front of their fans, but the road victory over Lazio bolsters their confidence.
Busy Schedule for AS Roma
It is Juventus who plays in the Champions League, but the visitors were the ones who had a busy schedule lately. They had to play plenty of matches in all competitions and travel a long way from home to face highly motivated teams. Add to this the fact that they took on city rivals Lazio and it’s easy to explain why fatigue is such a big problem.
Spalletti had to start with the same players match after match and only had the chance to rest some of them in the last Europa League fixture. They were more than happy to settle for narrow margin victories such as the one over Lazio and AC Milan. Against Juventus, even a draw would be regarded as a major achievement, since they play on the road.
Flawless Home Record for Juventus
As hosts, they won all eight games so far and allowed fewer goals than any other team in the Italian first division. A victory over AS Roma would help Juventus build an advantage of seven points. This could ultimately prove too difficult to recuperate by the Romans and will hand them another title. It’s important for the hosts to consolidate their position before the Champions League playoffs resume in February.
bet365 Sports currently offers odds of 4/5 on Juventus to win the ninth home match in as many rounds. Even though their opponents are the second best Italian team, there is tremendous value in these odds and even risk-averse punters should take them wholeheartedly.
