Serie A: Who’s Your Money on Jose or Max?

AS Roma vs Juventus

Two coaching legends come face-to-face at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday when Max Allegri takes his Juventus side to meet Jose Mourinho’s Roma in a classic Serie A clash.

Mourinho and Allegri have 12 major European League titles between them with six each and they are two of the most respected and feared managers on the planet.

Put simply, they are born winners.

Mourinho made his name at Porto before managing Chelsea in the Premier League where he picked up three league titles. In Serie A, he won two Scudettos with Inter Milan before he moved to La Liga to lock horns with then-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola and there he won the La Liga title with Real Madrid.

Allegri has six Scudetto wins as a manager, starting his haul with AC Milan in 2011 before picking up five with Juventus, and he was helicoptered back into Turin to replace the sacked Andre Pirlo last summer.  

An upturn in form has lifted Juventus up to fifth place in the Serie A league table, two places and three points ahead of Roma. The Old Lady is climbing steadily up towards the top four, though the latest Serie A 2022 betting odds say the Scudetto is Inter Milan’s to lose.

Juventus will have a tough challenge to reach the Champions League spots with AC Milan, Napoli, and Atalanta all going well.

Roma have been hit-and-miss this season and Mourinho will be looking for more consistency in the second half of the campaign but he won’t have given up on a top four spot quite yet. They come into this game on the back of a defeat to Milan, while Juventus drew with Napoli. 

Talking Points

Milan misery for Roma

A clash with title chasers Milan and then a meeting with the mighty Juventus was a daunting opening to 2022 for Roma and they fell at the first hurdle much to the frustration of their manager.

It couldn’t have gone much worse for I Giallorossi as they went two down within 17 minutes thanks to two defensive howlers.

Firstly, Tammy Abraham bafflingly stuck his arm pout to block a shot and Olivier Giroud converted the penalty. Then the French man intercepted a weak back pass from Roger Ibaez and, when his shot hit the post, Junior Messias was quickest to react to slam the ball home.

A deflected Abraham shot hauled Roma back into the game but they couldn’t break down the Milan resistance as visiting keeper Mike Maignan made a string of top class saves and substitute Rafael Leao sealed the deal to make it 3-1.

But things got worse for Jose when Rick Kardsop and Gianluca Mancini both received their marching orders and will sit out the game against Juventus.    

Captain and midfield ace Lorenzo Pellegrini is Roma’s key man. He’s the heartbeat and the creative muscle of the team, making an assist for Abraham. His form is crucial to their chances of success on Sunday and for the remainder of the campaign.

Juventus on the up

After a poor start to the campaign and a series of disappointing Serie A 2022 results, Allegri has steered Juventus on a run of consistency and they are unbeaten in seven as well as making it through to the Champions League Round of 16.  

I Bianconeri’s New Year greeting from Napoli turned out to be a tough examination of their recent progress as the Azzurri took a first-half lead when Dries Mertens took a pass from Matteo Politano and drilled a low shot into the corner, giving Bianconeri keeper Wojciech Szczesny no chance.

Napoli dominated the first half, but Juventus came out fighting and Federico Chiesa earned the Old Lady a point when he fired into the bottom corner early in the second half.

Paulo Dybala earned himself a late yellow card, more out of frustration than anything, as Juventus knocked on the door but couldn’t break down the Napoli resistance. 

Dybala and Alvaro Morata have five goals each this term and the Old Lady has plenty of talented individuals in the side, including wide man Juan Cuadrado, striker Dejan Kulusevski, and midfield star Manuel Locatelli, and they are starting to gel as a team.

History

Juventus have bossed the head-to-head clashes with 31 wins to Roma’s 15, and there have been 17 draws from the 63 encounters since 1993.

When the two sides met earlier in the campaign Juventus ran out 1-0 victors as a goal from Moise Kean made it four wins on the bounce for I Bianconeri. 

Juventus have won four of the last six, drawing the other two while Roma have won three drawn one and lost two.  

Betting Tip

	AS Roma vs Juventus	Juventus Asian Handicap -0.25 @ 1.83
	January 10, 1:30 (GMT+8)

All three results are in play with the Old Lady edging it at SBOTOP odds of 2.14, while the hosts are at 3.11 and the draw is at 3.22.

2-3 goals is available at odds of 1.94, while a 1-1 result is priced at 5.60.

Mourinho will set up his team to frustrate Juve and it looks like a nail-biter.

 

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