The fallen giants of Italian football square off at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday night, looking to prove the doubters wrong and stay close to the Champions League positions.

AS Roma have had their share of ups and downs over the last few years and each time it seemed they could mount a serious title challenge, the team would record several disappointing results in a row, thus shooting themselves in the foot.

The Giallorossi are going through another rough patch at the moment, having won just one of last nine fixtures in all competitions, although they have shown some signs of improvement.

Under-pressure coach Rudi Garcia was certainly delighted to see his side keep four straight clean sheets, although Coppa Italia loss to Spezia and BATE Borisov stalemate must have been difficult to bear.

But, having since defeated Genoa and played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with Chievo, Roma can go into the AC Milan clash in relatively good spirits.

Selection problems continue to mount for the Giallorossi as Edin Dzeko is banned and Daniele De Rossi and Francesco Totti are rated doubtful.

The likes of Kevin Strootman, Salih Ucan, Seydou Keita, Mohamed Salah and Ezequiel Ponce are all currently in the treatment room.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Szczesny – Florenzi, Rudiger, Manolas, Digne – Nainggolan, De Rossi, Pjanic – Gervinho, Sadiq, Falque.

AC Milan are another top Italian side that have struggled to reach their potential of late, with the San Siro outfit currently occupying seventh position in the league standings.

The club chiefs did their best to reinforce the squad in the summer, recruiting a number of quality footballers, while also appointing Sinisa Mihajlovic as head coach, but they have yet to see the results.

AC Milan have been incredibly inconsistent this term, as virtually each promising performance was immediately followed by a largely disappointing display.

Coppa Italia win over Sampdoria and league triumph vs Frosninone hinted that the Rossoneri’s have rediscovered their away form, but they then went ahead and spoiled it all by losing to Bologna at San Siro.

The Rossoneri are now priced at 4.30 (33/10) to win at Stadio Olimpico, but that seems like a tall order in spite of Roma’s unconvincing performances.

New signing Kevin-Prince Boateng is in contention, but Jeremy Menez, Mario Balotelli and Diego Lopez all miss out through injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Donnarumma – Abate, Alex, Romagnoli, Antonelli – Honda, Montolivo, Bertolacci, Bonaventura – Bacca, Niang.