Little to separate goal-laden Italian giants
Champions League hopefuls AS Roma and AC Milan duke it out once again on Sunday evening to strengthen their clubs' grips on a top four spot in Serie A as the second 'third' of the league season continues to unfold. Both sides came through their respective Europa League last 32 games in midweek to advance to the next round of the knockout phase of UEFA's secondary club competition. Three games in little over a week come before that, however, starting at the Stadio Olimpico. It should be an entertaining one. Read our preview here:
Makeshift Roman defence
Head coach Paulo Fonseca has welcomed former captain and Bosnian hitman Edin Džeko back into the fold after their high-profile bust-up in January, but must do without his services for the visit of Milan, having picked up an injury during the second half of their aggregate win over Portuguese outfit Braga in midweek. An even more pressing concern however is the state of the defence. The combination of Chris Smalling and Ibañez' absences have stretched their squad to breaking point in that department. Bryan Cristante is having to continually deputise in the heart of the trio, and as he's a midfielder whose tackling isn't quite what he's most renowned for, it is coming at a cost to his own personal efficacy and that of the team as a whole. Former Elche anchorman Gonzalo Villar will stitch together defence and midfield, whilst Borja Mayoral will lead the line.
Theo's a jolly good fellow
Stefano Pioli has much fewer injury woes to deal with, but the last few matches have been an extremely bumpy ride for I Rossoneri. They squeaked through their Europa League clash with FK Crvena zvezda by virtue of the away goals rule, and have lost their last two games in Serie A, coming off worse for wear in the Milan derby by a margin of three to Inter, and perhaps more surprisingly, had no answer at all to relegation threatened Spezia, deservedly being beaten 2-0. The best performing player outside of the obvious likes of Zlatan Ibrahimović and Hakan Çalhanoğlu has been left-back Theo Hernández. The former bit-part Real Madrid player has made that berth his own in Italy, and has developed into a key part of Pioli's 4-2-3-1 system, defending just as stoutly as he does bomb forward to lay on crosses and become more involved with their approach play on the dribble than most players of his ilk.
Another thriller on the cards
The previous clash between the sides resulted in the shares being spoiled and six goals between them. There's every chance of something similar occurring on the last day of February, although Džeko's enforced absence does hurt Roma's prospects of scoring three. Neither side have had smooth sailing coming into the weekend, and there's little to separate them in the league, either. bet365 are offering surprisingly long odds of 3.50 for a draw.
