Hellas Verona will give their best to arrest their latest downtrend and remain in contention for European positions when they host second-placed Roma in lunchtime kick-off on Sunday. Following four straight victories at Stadio Olimpico, the Giallorossi arrive at Bentegodi looking for more of the same.

Jorginho leaves for Napoli

Hellas Verona have undoubtedly been the success story of the current Serie A campaign, as the team that had been supposed to fight for their lives managed to outplay some of Italy’s top sides and mounted a serious top 6 challenge. Anyone who’s watched the Gialloblu this season will concur that the team really deserve their current league position, but it would appear as though Andrea Mandorlini’s men have finally started to show signs of weakness. This probably wasn’t the right time to sell key midfielder Jorginho to Napoli, but the club chiefs had little choice given the good offer from Stadio San Paolo. Verona go into the clash with high-flying Roma somewhat low on spirits, having suffered back to back defeats to Napoli (0-3) and Milan (0-1), and they could have problems matching the in-form Giallorossi. The hosts will have important attacker Luca Toni back to the side, but it remains to be seen if he will be at 100% having missed quite a few training sessions with a bout of flu.

Jacopo Sala misses out with a muscle problem, whilst Michelangelo Albertazzi and Vangelis Moras are injury doubts.

Not giving up on the title

In all fairness, before the season started nobody expected to see Roma among the title contenders, especially with the team having had finished the previous campaign 25 points behind champions Juventus. However, new boss Rudi Garcia did brilliantly to rebuild the squad over the summer, although club officials also have to be commended for acquiring high-quality players such as Benatia, Strootman, Maicon, Gervinho and Ljajic. With the French coach quickly finding the right balance in the side, Roma enjoyed ten straight victories, although they have since slipped to the second place in the standings following some unexpected slip-ups. And while the 3-0 defeat in the derby clash against Juventus was a bit harsh on the Giallorossi, it appears to have given the team an extra motivation, with Roma absolutely impressive ever since. Even if they did play four straight matches at Stadio Olimpico, Rudi Garcia’s men did well to record all four wins, while keeping as many clean sheets. And with the team largely impressing in the Coppa Italia clash against Juventus, they can be trusted to see off out-of-form Verona as well.

Key midfielder Miralem Pjanic will be recalled after he was rested in midweek, but Federico Balzaretti and Alessio Romagnoli are out injured.

Verdict

Following some outstanding performances, Hellas Verona have suffered a serious dip in form, so this is definitely not the right time to be facing red-hot Roma, especially with Jorginho having left the club. Meanwhile, the Giallorossi are buoyed by the excellent display against Juventus and they look a good bet to win at Bentegodi.

Top pick: Away win   1.75 (3/4) @ Coral

Alternative pick 1: Roma to score two or more   1.70 (7/10) @ Ladbrokes

Alternative pick 2: Roma to win to nil   3.30 (23/10) @ Paddy Power