Roma vs Juventus Prediction: Hosts to pile pressure on Spalletti’s side

Sunday night Serie A action this weekend comes from the Stadio Olimpico (19:45 GMT, live on Betfred.com), where a couple of Uefa Champions League-chasing clubs, fourth-placed AS Roma and fifth-placed Juventus, do battle. The hosts are currently four points clear of their Turin counterparts, who put up a brave fight in the second leg of their Champions League knockout phase play-off tie against Galatasaray on Wednesday, but were ultimately beaten 7-5 on aggregate.

Below are my Roma vs Juventus predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

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Team News

Roma are sweating on the fitness of former Juventus star Paulo Dybala, who has missed his side's last four league games with a knee injury.

Matias Soule, Artem Dovbyk (both groin), Stephan El Shaarawy (Achilles) and Evan Ferguson (ankle) are all likely to sit this one out for Gian Piero Gasperini's side, too, while Mario Hermoso (muscle) is considered doubtful.

Football Odds

Juventus are still missing Dusan Vlahovic (groin), Emil Holm (foot) and Arkadiusz Milik (unspecified), while Manuel Locatelli is suspended after receiving his fifth yellow card of the campaign in the Old Lady's 2-0 home loss to Como last Saturday.

Roma vs Juventus Odds

Roma have won five of their last six home games in Serie A, including both in February, and I Giallorossi are 6/4 to secure another Olimpico victory on Sunday, implying a 40.5% probability of success. Juventus, who have suffered back-to-back league defeats away to Inter (3-2) and at home to Como, are 9/5, or a 35.7% chance, to do the double over their opponents, having triumphed 2-1 in Turin on December 20.

The draw is offered at 21/10, while both teams to score, a winning selection in three of the last four head-to-heads, is priced at 1/1.

Match Result - Roma @ 6/4

Juve could be suffering mentally and physically on Sunday.

Luciano Spalletti's side rallied from a 5-2 defeat to Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League tie to win 3-0 in Wednesday's second leg and force extra time at Allianz Stadium, only for the Turkish outfit to strike twice and dump the Italians out 7-5 on aggregate.

Juve can now focus fully on the league, but it may take them a little while to recover from events in midweek, and Roma, who have had two extra days to prepare for this game, could pounce.

Today's Football Fixtures

Gasperini's charges have only lost one of their last eight league matches, winning five times and drawing twice, and they've been particularly impressive on home soil, not just this calendar year, but across the whole season.

Heading into the weekend's round of fixtures, only Inter (31) had collected more points at home than Roma (28), who have won nine, drawn one, and lost three of their 13 Serie A games at the Olimpico.

Juve, meanwhile, have lost five of their 13 away matches (W6, D2) in Serie A this season, and one of their defeats came at the Olimpico in October, when Roma's city rivals and fellow tenants Lazio beat them 1-0.

I'm backing the in-form hosts to take down the beleaguered visitors on Sunday.

Player to Receive a Card - Teun Koopmeiners (JUV) @ 16/5

Teun Koopmeiners has played across Juve's defence and midfield this season, but this Sunday, he could get the nod in one of his most familiar roles, as a central midfielder, filling in for the suspended Locatelli.

The 27-year-old, who is averaging 1.6 and 1.9 fouls per 90 minutes, respectively, in Serie A and the Champions League this season, has received all five of his yellow cards in Italy's top flight.

A sixth could be heading his way this weekend with the likes of Lorenzo Pellegrini and Manu Kone, averaging 2.1 and two fouls won per 90, respectively, in Serie A, set to pose problems in Rome.