The final round of the Serie A season is upon us and AC Milan are ending their domestic run with a high profile derby match against AS Roma on Saturday night. Rossoneri are heading into the game feeling no competitive pressure, but AS Roma still have plenty to fight for as they can finish the season in second place in the standings.

AC Milan can’t wait to get it over with

It has been a difficult season for AC Milan fans, who have endured yet another disappointing campaign in the league. Rossoneri are once again finishing the season empty-handed, without a Eruopean spot to boast with and with a major headache ahead of the crucial summer. Sinisa Mihajlovic has been given a sack and Christian Brocchi was brought to replace him until the end of the season and fans will be eager to find out who the next permanent manager will be. In addition, Silvio Berlusconi has set the club’s takeover in motion and AC Milan are expected to get new owners this week already, so a great deal attention is funnelled to off pitch activities when it comes to AC Milan. Sitting in seventh place at the standings, AC Milan are three points ahead of Lazio and are without any pressure ahead of the game versus AS Roma. Brocchi is likely to rest a couple of first-team players as AC Milan have another game to play, after the final round of the Serie A. Rossoneri are due to face champions Juventus in the Coppa Italia final on 21 May and it will be a great opportunity to save another disappointing season.

Ignazio Abate and Luca Antonelli have both suffered knocks and are likely to miss the match against AS Roma. In addition, GIacomo Bonaventura is struggling with a hamstring injury, while Rodrigo Ely is out with a distortion of the ankle. M’Baye Niang is recovering from a traffic accident and he will also be unavailable.

AS Roma aiming for the runners-up spot

Luciano Spalletti has done wonders with Giallorossi, despite the entire fuss regarding his relationship with the club’s captain and legend Francesco Totti. Having been put to the margins by the new manager, Francesco Totti was in the centre of s transfer storm, but the captain has endured it all to make his 600^th Serie A appearance in his team’s 3-0 victory over Chievo. Totti came off the bench and set up the third goal as AS Roma moved up to 77 points with only a game at AC Milan remaining in the league. Giallorossi are just a point shy of the second-placed Napoli, who play host to Frosinone in their final match of the season at the identical time. AS Roma will need to win and hope for a miracle from a lowly Frosinone in order to grab the second spot and finish the season as runners-up. They are expected to go full strength at Milan, but a lot can change in the game depending on the result in Naples. Roma are in excellent form in the league with their last Serie A defeat being a 1-0 loss at Juventus back in January. Giallorossi have gone 16 games without a defeat and are expected to continue the trend, at least up until they head bad news from Naples.

Luciano Spalletti is expected to field his strongest squad as there are no injury nor suspension problems to worry about. Francesco Totti will once again start from the bench, just like Kevin Strootman, who is expected to be given another run in the closing match of the season.

Verdict

Final round of the season is often hard to predict, but AS Roma have plenty to fight for and I expect to see a strong start from the Giallorossi. Plenty can change during the proceedings as AS Roma will be following the result at Napoli and this game is a potential bank breaker.

Top pick: Both teams to score – yes   1.53 (8/15) @WilliamHill

Alternative pick 1: Home win   3.3 (23/10) @888sport

Alternative pick 2: Roma/Milan   30.00 (29/1) @Unibet