Roma and AC Milan will square off on Friday in the most high profile Serie A fixture this weekend. Milan have had a flying start to the campaign and will fancy their chances of claiming the upper hand over Roma, who are looking off colour at the moment.
Roma stumbled to a 2-1 defeat at Verona in their previous Serie A fixture. Having gone behind within five minutes, they went into the break two goals down and despite attempting a fight back in the second half, could only pull one back through Houssem Aouar.
The result highlights Roma’s poor start to the season as they are still seeking their first win of the campaign having begun with a 2-2 home draw with Salernitana. Defending appears to be one of the problems for Jose Mourinho’s men early in the season as they have conceded three goals in their two matches so far.
Beyond the defensive issues, Roma have also had injury problems in attack with Tammy Abraham and Paulo Dybala currently ruled out. However, they have attempted to address the problems with the acquisition of Romelu Lukaku while Andrea Belotti’s brace on the opening weekend shows he can do a job for the capital club.
In contrast to Roma’s struggles, AC Milan have been in blistering form in the early weeks of the season. Stefano Pioli’s men are one of three teams still with a 100% record and are currently top of the standings dues to a superior goal difference having scored six goals and conceded just once in their two matches.
AC Milan travel to Roma off the back of a 4-1 victory over Torino in their previous Serie A fixture. Olivier Giroud netted a brace of penalties while Christian Pulisic and Theo Hernandez were also on target.
One of the reasons for AC Milan’s early success is the swift 8ntegration of new signings like Pulisic, who has scored in both matches this season. Olivier Giroud is also holding the fort for the old players and already has three goals so far.
How the bookies view it
The bookies appear to be split on this one with a win for Roma priced at 9/5 by Coral while an AC Milan victory is also valued at 9/5 by William Hill. A draw is set at odds of 9/4 by William Hill.
Recent Head to Head
AC Milan are unbeaten in the last seven matches against Roma, claiming four wins in that run. There was nothing to separate both teams last season as they drew both meetings, with the clash at the Stadio Olimpico ending 1-1.
Player to watch
Christian Pulisic appears to be enjoying life in Milan and having found the net in both matches this season, is priced at 13/5 by William Hill to maintain his scoring run. Olivier Giroud has three goals so far and could also be worth keeping an eye on at 12/5 by bet365.
With Romelu Lukaku likely to start from the bench on Friday, Andrea Belotti may be Roma's biggest attacking threat. Having scored at brace last time out at the Stadio Olimpico, the striker is priced at 19/5 by Unibet to find the net once again.
Anything else catch the eye?
Roma and AC Milan have seen over 3.5 goals in two of their last three meetings and a repeat can be considered at 7/2 with Unibet. Over 2.5 goals is valued at 13/10 by Unibet while bet365 is offering odds of 19/20 on both teams to score.
AC Milan have opened the scoring in six of the last seven meetings with Roma and can be tipped to grab the first goal on Friday at 21/20 with BoyleSports.
This Serie A match between Roma and AC Milan will be played on Sep 1, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Roma vs AC Milan prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
