The 17th Round of fixtures of the 2021/22 Serie A season rounds up this Monday with AS Roma hosting Spezia.
Venue: Stadio Olimpico (Rome)
Key Statistics
AS Roma have conceded 19 goals in Serie A this season. Only seven of those goals have been conceded at home.
Jose Mourinho‘s side have failed to score in two of their last five games in all competitions.
They have won just three of their last nine league games (D1, L5).
Spezia have lost their last five away games.
They have taken just four points from the available 24 from away games this season. Only Cagliari have taken fewer points.
They have conceded 70% (25) of their total league goals (36) this season away from home.
Head to head
Both teams have won one each in four meetings over 90 minutes.
Latest Performances in all competitions
AS Roma: W-L-L-W-W
Spezia: D-L-L-L-W
AS Roma
After securing their Europa Conference League destiny, AS Roma will turn their attention to the Serie A where they will look to get their season back on track after a series of poor results.
The hosts beat CSKA Sofia 32 last Thursday in the Conference League. After racing to a three-goal lead through a Tammy Abraham brace and a Borja Mayoral strike, Roma conceded two late goals in the game, leaving them in danger of finishing second in their group.
But they held on to see out the game, guaranteeing that they top group C in the process. Overall, they won four of their six group matches in the tournament, losing only once (D1) and scoring 18 goals.
But in the Serie A, things have not been that straightforward for them and they are currently struggling after a bright start to the season. Jose Mourinho’s men have lost five of their last nine league games and come into this tie sitting outside of the top four.
They have lost their last two league games to Bologna and Inter Milan; failing to score in both games.
Atalanta winning their weekend game means that Roma enters this tie 12 points behind the top four. They are five points behind the Europa League spots though, and can keep the gap small if they win this game.
Possible Roma starting line-ups
Rui Patricio; Gianluca Mancini, Chris Smalling, Roger Ibanez; Bryan Cristante; Jordan Veretout, Matias Vina, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Gonzalo Villar; Borja Mayoral, Tammy Abraham.
Injured: Stephan El Shaarawy, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Leonardo Spinazzola
Suspension: Nicolo Zaniolo, Gianluca Mancini
Spezia
Spezia’s woeful run in the Serie A continued last week with a 2-2 draw with Sassuolo.
The visitors have not had it easy in the league this season, having lost ten of their opening 16 games in the league. Only bottom-placed Salernitana have lost more so far.
They are currently sitting in 17th place, two points ahead of Cagliari, but with a worse goal difference. Meaning that if they is any slip-up and a win for Cagliari they will become fully embroiled in the relegation zone.
They will look to avoid that by picking up points here to keep them floating above the drop.
However, a poor away record- one of the worst in the league- makes predicting a win for them difficult. Meanwhile, their undoing so far has been their habit of dropping points from leading positions. Thiago Motta’s side have now dropped a joint-league high 15 points after taking a lead at any point, a figure in sharp contrast to what they’ve won (three points) after conceding the lead.
Possible Spezia starting line-ups
Ivan Provedel; Kelvin Amian, Martin Erlic, Dimitris Nikolaou, Simone Bastoni; Viktor Kovalenko, Jacopo Sala, Giulio Maggiore; Rey Manaj, David Strelec, M’Bala Nzola.
Injured: Emmanuel Quartsin Gyasi, Leo Sena
Suspension: None
Prediction
AS Roma 1-0 Spezia
