Roma vs Juventus Preview

February 15, 2013 By Gregory Sica

The Italian champions will be looking to continue their charge towards back-to-back league titles when they travel to the Stadio Olimpico to do battle with Roma.

Juventus have the opportunity to go eight points clear at the top of the Serie A when they meet Roma in what has the potential to be a cracking encounter on Saturday.

The Bianconeri come into the clash as the firm favourites to claim the three points, as not only did they crush Roma 4-1 earlier in the season, but they have won the last three tussles between the sides, with a total of eleven goals scored and just one goal against.

Juventus are oozing confidence at present, as not only are they in top form in the league, but they are also striving in the UEFA Champions League, having picked up an emphatic 3-0 victory over Celtic in Scotland on Tuesday.

Antonio Conte, the coach of the side, will be delighted by the fact that Kwadwo Asamoah and Leonardo Bonucci are available for team selection once again. While Asamoah returns to the starting eleven after having helped Ghana reach the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations, Bonucci is available after having served a two-game suspension.

Conte is expected to feature Mirko Vucinic and Alessandro Matri in Juve's attack, while new French signing Nicolas Anelka will have to wait for an opportunity from the substitute's bench.

Aurelio Andreazzoli, who recently replaced Zdenek Zeman as the coach of Roma, made a number of changes to the side in the 3-1 defeat to Sampdoria last weekend, and will be forced to spring even more changes on Saturday, as the likes of Alessandro Florenzi, Pablo Osvaldo and Daniele De Rossi could join Federico Balzaretti, Leonardo Castan and Mattia Destro on the sidelines.

Roma have only managed to beat Juventus in one of the last fifteen encounters between the sides, which was back in February of 2004, and will be looking for inspiration from captain Francesco Totti to obtain a positive result in the Italian capital.