AS Roma vs AC Milan 04/02/19

04 February 2019

One of the biggest Serie A derbies takes place at the Stadio Olimpico this weekend, as AS Roma and AC Milan battle it out for the Champions League promotion slot.

Winless in their last two competitive outings (D1, L1), the hosts come into this meeting after a disgraceful 7-1 loss to Fiorentina in midweek’s Coppa Italia clash, hoping to make it up to the home fans. Currently sitting one point adrift of their upcoming rivals, the Giallorossi have the chance to overthrow AC Milan if they manage to wrap up all three points. Roma’s recent home displays can certainly encourage Eusebio Di Francesco, as his men won four of their last five SA home games (W4, D1), scoring over 2.5 goals in each triumph. No team has scored more goals at home than La Lupa (27) this campaign, with Di Francesco’s players scoring over 1.5 goals per match in nine of ten SA home meetings. However, a potential worry for the Rome-based side could be that they’ve conceded more goals at home (16) than any other team from the upper half of the table, keeping a clean sheet only once so far.

The Rossoneri’s acquisition Krzysztof Piatek has fired his new club to the Coppa Italia semis, scoring a brace in midweek’s CI encounter with Napoli. It was only the third time in their last 11 games across all competitions that Gennaro Gattuso’s players managed to score over 1.5 goals per match. Still dealing with immense problems in the final third, the 7-CL winners have failed to hit the net in five of their previous seven Serie A meetings, as they remain the team to score fewest goals of all top-six sides (28). Although unbeaten in their last five SA road clashes (W2, D3), for the Rossoneri, goals have been at a premium. In their last six SA away races, Gattuso’s men have scored under 1.5 goals per match five times while restricting their opponents to a maximum of one goal per game in each during the sequence.