Jose Mourinho's Roma welcome Spezia to the capital on Monday night looking to get back to winning ways in the league following back-to-back losses. Read on for our expert tips and predictions.
We saw a four-goal stalemate in the most recent meeting between both sides but this was after Roma has beaten their opponents at the Stadio Olimpico back in January. who gets all three points this time around ?
Roma in search of all three points
Bologna's victory against Mourinho's troops about two weeks ago was one of those games where football showed how unjust it could be, however, the loss against Inter last weekend was solely due to the Nerrazzuri's superiority as the defending champions claimed a 3-0 victory. All hopes were pretty much lost just 39 minutes into the game as Denzel Dumfries netted the third and final goal of the game after Calhanoglu and ex-Roma forward Dzeko had put Inter two goals up. The Giallorossi got back on Thursday in a 3-2 win in the UEFA Europa Conference league against CSKA Sofia to claim the top spot in the group and given that they go up against a struggling Spezia side, the win is very much available for their taking.
Having played and won titles under Jose Mourinho at Internazionale, Thiago Motta would have some idea as to how a side managed by the Special One plays their football. However, it's one thing to have the knowledge and another thing to use said knowledge to your advantage with Spezia not boating the form nor the quality to hurt a side like Roma at the capital. They head into this game without a win in their last four league matches but having picked up a point against Sassuolo last weekend, there would certainly be a spring in their step on Monday night.
Roma vs Spezia Team News
Roma possible starting XI:
Patricio; Kumbulla, Smaling, Ibanez; Vina, Cristante, Vertour, Karsdorp; Shomurodov, Mkhitaryan; Abraham
Spezia possible starting XI:
Provedel; Amian, Erlic, Nikolaou; Gyasi, Kovalenko, Bourabai; Maggoire, Bastoni; Nzola, Manaj
Roma vs Spezia Prediction: 2-0
Spezia travel to the Olimpico in need of at least a point to keep them falling into the drop zone but with Roma bidding to get back into the top 6, we don't think Thiago Motta's troops would have any cause to celebrate when the referee blows the final whistle.