AS Roma vs Empoli
Italian Serie A
Date: Saturday, 1st April 2017
Kick-off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome.
Roma
Roma may have one eye on Tuesday’s Coppa Italia semi-final with Lazi0, but they have managed four wins in their last five matches will no doubt have boosted their confidence. They are second in the standings with eight points behind leaders Juventus with time running out.
They have not had a good midweek after news broke out that Daniele De Rossi picked up a back injury in Italy’s midweek game away at Holland and is not likely to be risked. On the other hand, Kevin Strootman is suspended, which means that Leandro Paredes will come into the side and Radja Nainggolan will take a more deeper role.
Empoli
Empoli is in 17th position and have scored only 17 goals this season. Two of those goals came in their last game against Napoli. However they conceded three goals in the first 38 minutes meant that they were beaten 3-2 which was their sixth defeat in a row. They have not won in Serie A since January 22.
Roma vs Empoli: Head-to-head
Empoli held Roma to a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture of the current season. The result extended Roma’s unbeaten run over Empoli to 8 matches in all competitions, which includes 5 wins and 3 draws.
The h2h record is even better for Roma as they are unbeaten in the last 9 with 7 wins and 2 draws.
Roma vs Empoli: Prediction
The teams are sitting at the opposite end of the form table. While Roma are a free scoring team, Empoli have a vulnerable defense. To make things worse, the visitors are the worst scoring away team in the league that failed to find the back of the net in 11 of their 14 games so far. Therefore, it is very unlikely that this match will end in anything other than a home win.
Roma vs Empoli:
Asian Handicap Roma -2.5 at 2.33 odds
Over 1.5 first-half goals at 2.00.
