Besides fighting for the Serie A title, Juventus and Roma will also battle for one place in the Coppa Italia semi-finals after they eliminated Catania and Lazio respectively to reach the quarter-finals. Both managers are expected to field strong line-ups, which should guarantee us a very interesting game.

Juve held at Luigi Ferraris

Juventus exceeded all expectations in the first part of the season as the Bianconeri proved they can match the best sides in Serie A, but two heavy defeats at the start of 2011 raised doubts over Luigi Del Neri’s side. Nonetheless, Juventus quickly returned to the right track as they beat Catania and Bari at home before picking up just one point from Luigi Ferraris despite completely outplaying very good Sampdoria side. The Bianconeri are clearly in a very good form at the moment and they aim to continue the great run against Roma, with Luigi Del Neri expected to finally field a strong side in Coppa Italia. The Old Lady have just completed the signing of Andrea Barzagli, although he is unlikely to be in contention for the Roma game.

Luigi Del Neri has announced that Marco Storari will start in goal even if Gianluigi Buffon remains the first choice, while Felipe Melo and Vincenzo Iaquinta return to the side after missing the last two games.

Roma lucky to beat Lazio

Having won six of their last seven games, Roma appear to be flying high at the moment, but things are not entirely as they seem. The dressing room atmosphere is far from impressive with Mirko Vucinic, Adriano and even Francesco Totti clashing with boss Claudio Ranieri, while team’s performances leave a lot to be desired. Roma somehow made it to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals by beating bitter rivals Lazio, but having watched the game I can tell you that Lazio were by far the better team on the day and only ended up losing the game after missing a host of clear-cut chances. Roma’s away record doesn’t give them much reason for optimism before the Juventus clash as they have lost 7 out of 15 away games this season.

Julio Sergio, David Pizzaro, Francesco Totti and Adriano are not included in the squad to face Juventus, which only adds to the worries.

Verdict

Juventus look much better than Roma at the moment and with Luigi Del Neri set to field a very strong side, I expect the Bianconeri to win this game. Roma are far from desired form, they are largely struggling on the travels and have four important missings, so all signs point to home win.

Our prediction: Home win

Odds: 2.38 (11/8)

Bookmaker: 888Sport