Juventus vs Roma

The big match of week 23 in Serie A will take place at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino as Juventus host AS Roma in a clash between the 2^nd place and 3^rd place sides. A loss or draw for Juventus in this match would pretty much eliminate them from any hope of a miracle run at the title. It is a must win for Roma as well given that Inter Milan simply refuse to lose.

The side managed by former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri are in 3^rd place of Serie A with 44 points for the season. This leaves the bianconeri 4 points back of 2^nd place AS Roma and 6 points in front of Fiorentina. A victory in this match would see them close the gap with Roma to 1 point and perhaps gain ground on Inter Milan. Last week the vecchia signora picked up a 1-2 away against Udinese which stretched their unbeaten run to 13 matches. This current streak is second only to first place Inter. On the injury front, there are important changes this week as Italy 2006 world cup winner Mauro German Camoranesi has been cleared to play and will start on the right flank of the midfield. Andrade, Marchionni and Vanstrattan remain sidelined. Juve have lost just one match at home this season while winning 7 and drawing 3. David Trezeguet continues to lead the league with 15 goals scored.

Roma bounced back nicely form their shock defeat of a week ago at the hands of Siena to score a 2-0 victory over Reggina at the Stadio Olimpico. With that victory the giallorossi have reached 48 points in the year and remain 8 points back of 1^st place Inter Milan. While they are having a very good season, they must continue to win as Inter just seem incapable of losing. Nedo Spaletti’s side have been a quality club away form home this season with 6 wins to go with 4 draws and only 1 loss. Therr is some positive news for them as well on the injury front as Brazilian defender Juan has been cleared to play and is expected to be starting at the back. The only injury concerns are Julio Sergio and Curci. Expect Spalletti to go with the usual 4-2-3-1 featuring Totti in attack.

This contest appears to have draw written all over it. These are two very evenly matched sides and usually a derby of this magnitude in Serie A tends to resemble a chess match more than football. Look for both sides to go home with a point.

Prediction: (1-1)