Title contenders AS Roma continued the rich vein of form by defeating Parma at Ennio Tardini and the Giallorossi now aim to make it five wins out of five when they host Hellas Verona. The Gialloblu have enjoyed another impressive start to the season, but their four-match unbeaten run will be put to a serious test at Stadio Olimpico.

Good strength in depth

Despite his team impressing to push Juventus all the way in the Serie A title chase last season, Rudi Garcia was aware that he needed to add more bodies to the squad if his side were to successfully balance between the Champions League and Serie A campaign. And while they couldn’t prevent Mehdi Benatia from leaving, the Giallorossi recruited a number of quality players that seem to have adapted well to the new surroundings. AS Roma have had their share of injury problems in the opening exchanges, but that did not prevent the team from winning all five competitive fixtures, conceding just two goals in the process. It was Miralem Pjanic’s late free-kick goal that secured a very important triumph over Parma, where Roma experienced some problems at the back. The back four does not seem to be as rock-solid as when Leandro Castan is on the pitch and with Davide Astori and Daniele De Rossi also missing, the hosts could find it hard to stop very good Verona from scoring. Having said that, they should have more than enough quality to end up extending their impressive run of results.

There have been no good news on injury front this week given that Strootman, Balzaretti, Borriello, Castan, Iturbe, De Rossi, Astori and Ucan remain sidelined.

Verona continue to impress

Hellas Verona surprised everyone with some stunning attacking performances that saw the team join the race for European positions, finishing mere four points behind sixth-placed Parma. While the Gialloblu were scoring goals for fun mostly thanks to Luca Toni and Juan Iturbe, they were also allowing too many, conceding 68 in 38 fixtures. The club were, therefore, expected to seriously reinforce their back line, but they have failed to do so, adding several average defenders to the squad plus veteran Rafa Marquez, who has already committed a number of costly mistakes. But, having signed few more quality attackers and attack-minded midfield players, Verona remain a force to be reckoned with up front, and they have enjoyed a very good start to the new season. While defeating Cremonese in Coppa Italia, the Gialloblu are still unbeaten in Serie A, having picked up eight points from four matches, although they are clearly in for a difficult afternoon at Stadio Olimpico. With the players brimming on confidence, the visitors will not be afraid to attack their more illustrious opponents, which should guarantee us a very open game.

Emil Hallfredsson, Rafael Andrade and Jacopo Sala miss out through injury, with Luca Toni and Javier Saviola again set to form attacking partnership.

Verdict

AS Roma already seem to be close to top form and they can certainly be trusted to continue the impressive scoring run against shaky Verona defence. The Gialloblu, on the other hand, will have more than enough opportunities to hit the hosts on the break, although chances are their good run of results will end at Stadio Olimpico.

Top pick: Over 2.5 goals   1.67 (2/3) @ SkyBet

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   2.08 (27/25) @ 888sport

Alternative pick 2: Home win + both teams to score   3.20 (11/5) @ Coral