Football – Italy – Serie A
Sunday 19th April 2015 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Roma are still looking in good shape for a serious challenge for second place and an automatic Champions League spot following a good point away at Torino last weekend in a 1-1 draw. Overall, they’ve lost just once in their last 20 Serie A matches and they recently reminded the Italian top flight of their intentions with a 1-0 home win over fourth placed Napoli.
At home they’ve lost just once in their last 15 which was a 2-0 loss to Sampdoria but as mentioned, they quickly bounced back with a win in their last home match, that being the Napoli victory. Their overall home record stands at 8-6-1 25/10 and they’ve kept nine clean sheets on home turf to date.
If you’re looking for anytime goalscorers then striker Ljajic is probably the best bet although you still can’t rule out veteran marksman Totti coming off the bench.
Atalanta currently sit fourth from bottom in Serie A although they do hold a useful seven-point cushion over third from bottom club Cesena who have to make the tough trip to Sampdoria on Saturday.
The visitors managed to put some much needed daylight between themselves and the bottom three last weekend when they ended an eight-match winless streak with a 2-1 home win over Sassuolo, but they will have their backs to the wall this afternoon as they look to keep Roma quiet in their own backyard.
Atalanta’s away record stands at 2-6-7 9/18 with their obvious problem being a severe lack of goals on their travels; nine blanks in fact, and at one stage, they went seven consecutive away matches without troubling the scorers.
Roma will be very keen indeed to convert their home matches into three points and this afternoon is no exception – I’ll back the hosts to keep it tight at the back and cover the asian line here with perhaps a 2-0 win.
Pick: Roma AH-1 @ 1.72 Bet Victor
