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Champions Juventus will travel to the Eternal City to face an in-form AS Roma side on Sunday evening for a crunch clash which will be pivotal for both teams' ambitions in the 2019-20 Serie A season.
The Old Lady are currently second in the table after the winter break, trailing league leaders Inter Milan on goal difference.
The hosts, Roma, are on 35 points and sitting fourth in the table - just a point above Atalanta - as the race for the Champions League places heats up. With Juventus facing stiff competition from Antonio Conte's Inter and Lazio to retain the Scudetto, there will be no room for complacency for Maurizio Sarri's team.
Roma vs Juventus Head to Head
Roma lost 2-0 at home to Torino when the Serie A resumed from winter break last weekend, thereby ending their seven-game unbeaten run.
Juventus, on the other hand, thumped visiting Cagliari 4-0 at the Allianz Stadium in a match which featured Cristiano Ronaldo's first hat-trick in Italian top-flight.
Matches between these two giants of Italian football have always been balanced and tight affairs over the yeas. Juventus won 1-0 at home against Roma last season and then succumbed to one of their only four defeats in Serie A last term, going down 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico.
Both sides possess impressive defensive records. Juventus have the second-meanest defence in the league behind Inter, having conceded only 17 goals. While Roma have let in 19 goals.
Roma form guide: D-D-W-W-L
Juventus form guide: W-W-W-L-W
Roma vs Juventus Team News
Roma are likely to be without Davide Zappacosta, Justin Kluivert, Javier Pastore and Bryan Cristante. However, Nicolo Zaniolo will return.
Doubtful: Davide Zappacosta, Justin Kluivert, Javier Pastore and Bryan Cristante
Juventus will miss midfield lynch-pin Rodrigo Bentancur due to suspension, while Giorgio Chiellini and Sami Khedira are long-term absentees.
Injuries: Giorgio Chiellini and Sami Khedira
Suspension: Rodrigo Bentancur
Roma vs Juventus Predicted XI
Roma Predicted XI: Lopez, Florenzi, Mancini, Smalling, Kolarov, Diawara, Veretout, Zaniolo, Pellegrini, Perotti, Dzeko
Juventus Predicted XI: Szczesny, Cuadrado, Bonucci, Demiral, Alex Sandro, Pjanic, Ramsey, Matuidi, Dybala, Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo
Roma vs Juventus Prediction
Juventus suffered four defeats in Serie A last term and one of those came at the Stadio Olimpico against Roma. In the last seven meetings between the two clubs, only once have we witnessed more than two goals, which highlights that these encounters are always low-scoring affairs.
Roma's latest defeat to Torino threw a spanner in the works. Paulo Fonseca's team were riding on a seven-match unbeaten streak (winning five) before losing to Juventus' Turin rivals last Sunday. Expect the champions to have the edge against a wounded Roma side.
Score prediction: Roma 1-2 Juventus
Also Read: 4 reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo could win the Serie A Golden Shoe this season
