Roma vs. Juventus: Preview & Predicted Lineups

Roma and Juventus face-off in the Italian capital on Sunday in a crucial affair with valuable points on the line.

Both teams are in the hunt for a top-five finish to secure a Champions League spot for the next season. Roma, managed by Daniele De Rossi, is seeking to rebound from a series of mixed results, including a recent home defeat. Juventus, under Max Allegri, aims to overcome a period of inconsistency marked by several draws.

The match is scheduled to get underway at 20.45 CET on Sunday evening at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Roma are seeking to rebound from a series of mixed results, including a recent home defeat against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League. The Giallorossi struggled to keep pace with the German champions, but they’ll need to put the performance in the rearview and bounce back against the Bianconeri.

Sitting 5th in the Serie A table with 59 points, Roma have a chance to gain ground on fourth-placed Bologna, who were held to a 0-0 draw against Torino on Friday. They’ll also have to fend-off surging Atalanta, who trail by only two points but also have a match in-hand.

“We have to face Juventus just like we do any other team: with good preparation, knowledge and awareness of who you’re playing against.,” explained manager Daniele De Rossi prior to the game.

“They haven’t had the best run of results recently. They’ve alternated some very good performances – like the first leg against Lazio – and others where they’ve struggled. They’re looking to wrap up that Champions League spot.vWe need points and we know we can get them, especially as we’re playing at home.”

Adding, “We need all of our players to produce an exceptional performance and the fans too. We need them to keep pushing us for another four or five games, so that we can go all the way to the end side by side, as we always have.”

“I came here three months ago if you had told me that I would be fifth now with 4 points over Atalanta and 6 from Lazio I would have signed up given where we started.”

In team news, the Giallorossi are expected to make some changes ahead against Juventus. The likes of Gianluca Mancini, Leonardo Spinazzola, and Stephan El Shaarawy could be rested and replaced by Diego Llorente, Angelino, and Nicola Zalewski starting in their places.

As for the visitors, Juventus look to overcome a recent rough patch and wrap-up Champions League football as soon as possible. Historically, they’ve had the upper hand in this fixture, winning four of their last six encounters against Roma. In their last meeting in December, the Bianconeri secured a narrow 1-0 victory.

Asked to preview Sunday’s showdown, Max Allegri confessed it’ll be a tough task for his side to grab all three points.

“We will face a strong Roma side that is doing very well despite Thursday’s defeat in the Europa League, it is a team with technical qualities that is experiencing a moment of great enthusiasm,” he said during his pre-match press conference.

“It will be a beautiful and fascinating match to play and at the same time a complicated one. I thank Coach Daniele De Rossi for his kind words about me. We are playing against a strong team that has important players who individually can solve the match. Dybala is a valuable player, while Paredes has also done well, as have Pellegrini and El Shaarawy.”

From a selection standpoint, Allegri will miss Alex Sandro due to injury but will otherwise have a full squad, with likely starts for Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic in attack.

ROMA (4-3-2-1): Svilar; Celik, Llorente, Ndicka, Angelino; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, Lukaku, Zalewski

Unavailable: None

JUVENTUS (3-5-2): Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Weah, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot, Cambiaso; Vlahovic, Chiesa

Unavailable: Kenan Yildiz, Alex Sandro