Udinese travel to Rome on the back of a ten-game winless streak and will face a Roma side who went down 2-0 to Milan, their first defeat since February.
Serie A 2019/2020
Date: Thursday July, 2nd
Kick-off: 20:45
Venue: Stadio Olimpico
After seeing off Sampdoria 2-1 thanks to Edin Dzeko’s second-half brace of volleys in their first game back from the coronavirus hiatus, Roma surprisingly failed to turn up in their big profile clash with AC Milan last weekend, culminating in a 2-0 defeat for them.
The loss thus, ended a three-match winning run for I Giallorossi, and has now put them nine points behind fourth-placed Atalanta who perhaps have sewn up that final Champions League spot.
With six points seperating them from Milan in seventh, Europa League qualification looks a more realistic prospect, unless they can go all the way in Europe’s second-tier competition this term.
Udinese’s form have been catastrophic, to say the least. Since the 3-0 win over Sassuolo in January, I Bianconeri have not won a competitive game, losing six times including their last two.
They did put up a fight last time out against Atalanta but ultimately fell to a 3-2 defeat. Playing away from home has offered no succour for the relegation-threatened side as no team has won fewer games on their travels this term in Serie A than Luca Gotti’s side.
Roma were comfortable 4-0 winners when this fixture was played in Udine earlier this season, so Udinese have lost 12 of their last 13 league meetings with Roma, including six in a row at this ground. Will that run continue here?
Team news
Roma
Jordan Veretout and Lorenzo Pellegrini have incurred automatic suspensions after picking up yellow cards against Milan.
Pau López and Nicolò Zaniolo are both out of this fixture through injuries.
Udinese
Rolando Mandragora pulled up with an injury in the loss to Torino and is not expected back for this one.
Head to Head
In 57 competitive meetings between these two sides, Roma have 31 victories to Udinese’s 15. Eleven clashes have ended as draws.
Team form
Roma last five competitive games: LWWWL
Udinese last five competitive games: DDDLL
Betting tips
Roma’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League was left hanging in the balance by the loss last time out, by there is a clear gulf in quality to who they face here, hence the chance they are completing the league double over their opposition. Punters can thus, bank on odds of 8/13 for Roma to bounce back here and pick up all three points in the Italian capital over a team barely struggling to maintain their topflight status for another season.
Edin Dzeko is Roma’s man when it comes to grabbing the goals, and his 14 league strikes from 27 outings signifies that. He is 5/4 to score anytime here, and an even better 10/3 to open the floodgates in what should be an interesting spectacle on Thursday evening.
