Catania vs Roma

AS Roma will be hoping to complete their miracle finish to the 2007-2008 Serie A season when they visit Catania at the Stadio Angelo Massimino. A victory for Roma coupled with an Inter Milan draw or loss will see them win the league title after being down by as many as 14 points a couple of months ago.

Roma come into this contest in 2^nd place of the league table with 81 points and they sit 1 point behind the league leaders Inter Milan. They also hold a 9 point edge on 3^rd place Juventus. Last week Roma held serve at home by a score of 2-1 over Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico di Roma and were able to pull within 1 point of first place thanks to Inter’s draw at home. Roma are unbeaten over their last 5 games and have won 4 of them to give themselves a chance in this last game. The injured list consists of Pit, Totti, Taddei and Ferrari so look for manager Spalletti to go with a 4-2-3-1 featuring Perrotta and Mancini on the wings with Aquilani just behind the lone striker Vucinic.

Catania also need a victory in the worst way this week as it is the only result that will guarantee that they do not make the drop. As it stands now Catania are in the last safe spot of the league table- 17^th place- with 36 points and hold a 2 point edge on 18^th place Parma. Last week they picked up a huge point on their visit to Juventus by holding out for a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino. With their draw the side managed by former Italian national side keeper Walter Zenga snapped a 2 match losing streak. For this week’s match at home to Roma, Catania will be missing Spinesi and Mascara to injury while Izco is out suspended. Expect Catania to go with a 4-4-2 with Colucci and the Uruguayan Gonzalo Martinez in attack.

One of Roma’s many strengths has been their strong play on the road where they have won 9 out of 18 matches while drawing 6 and losing only 3. Only league leaders Inter have lost fewer matches on the road. The only reason Catania are not in the drop zone at this time is that they have been fairly tough at home with 8 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses in 18 games. With their backs against the wall they should be good enough for a draw at home which could kill Roma’s title hopes.

Prediction: Draw (0-0)