Opinion: Three key battles as Juventus visit

Roma and Juventus will go head-to-head in what should be a clash on Sunday – with kick-off at the Stadio Olimpico at 20:45 local time.

It will be the 173rd league meeting between both sides, and the Giallorossi will be looking to put their recent loss to Torino behind them and claim all three points in the Italian capital.

The last encounter between both sides saw Roma secure a 2-0 home victory at the end of last season, with Edin Džeko completing a memorable win in the 93rd-minute. Roma’s victory last campaign was the 32nd home win against Maurizio Sarri’s side.

Here are three key battles to watch out for…

Paulo Fonseca v Maurizio Sarri

The last time Paulo Fonseca came up against Maurizio Sarri was back in March 2018 as Roma defeated Napoli 4-2. Before this, Fonseca also had the upper hand against the 61-year-old in the group stages of the 2017/18 Champions League as his Shakhtar Donetsk ran out 2-1 winners over a Napoli managed by the current Juventus boss. Fonseca, who comes up against Sarri for the third time in his managerial career, will hope to guide the Giallorossi to victory over the Serie A champions.

The 46-year-old has implemented a very offensive strategy to manage possession and create scoring opportunities just like the Sarri The idea is to be high and narrow, therefore compact, and with a lot of density, the Portuguese manager has previously stated. Fonseca will look build on his superb first half of his debut season in Italy and hope to write headlines with an important victory.

His opposite number, Sarri, whose side currently sit second in the league, level points with Inter Milan, is looking to earn his first win over Fonseca and continue his charge for the Serie A title. The former Chelsea manager who comes up against Roma for the tenth time, having won just five out of a possible nine, claiming two draws and suffering two defeats. Sarri, who has a win percentage of 78% so far this season, having only made small changes to his squad since his arrival at the Turin-based club in the summer, expects his players to know what they are expected to do.

Roma boss Fonseca, however, despite Juve’s bright start and league position, believes his side has what it takes to claim victory on Sunday.

“The squad are a bit sad after the game against Torino, but now we are focused on the match against Juventus and we have to be optimistic”, he said at his pre-match press conference.

“We need to improve in terms of the errors we made. Sunday is just another game like all the rest, but our target must always be to try to win. On Sunday we are going up against one of the best sides in Italy, a great side, but we will prepare for the game with the clear intention of trying to win it.”

Chris Smalling v Cristiano Ronaldo

Chris Smalling will be tasked with stopping the in-form Cristiano Ronaldo, both of who were coached by Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. The Portuguese talisman has netted a staggering 13 goals in 15 domestically so far (scores an average of 0.89 goals for every 90 minutes), and most recently netted a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Cagliari, which saw him become the second player, after Alexis Sánchez, to take home a match ball in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A. It was only the second time Juventus had beaten any side by more than two goals under Sarri.

Smalling, on the other hand, having featured in 1170 minutes so far this season, has contributed to 38% of Roma’s clean sheets to date (5/13 matches) and has the 34-year-old five-time Ballon d'Or winner standing in his way. Since Smalling’s arrival in the summer, the London-born defender has adjusted to life in Rome and will use his Premier League experience to try and keep Ronaldo at bay.

Smalling might even fancy himself for a goal on Sunday, given the fact he last netted against Brescia in the 3-0 victory at Stadio Olimpico back in November last year. Either way, he will have his hands full when Juventus come to town. That said, the 30-year-old has enough in his tank to deal with the threat of which the Old Lady pose.

Edin Dzeko v Matthijs de Ligt

The in-form Edin Džeko will be looking to get one over on one of Europe’s greatest defenders in Matthijs de Ligt on Sunday. Džeko who has netted seven in 18 games so far in Serie A, will be hoping to add to his total tally of 97 since joining the Giallorossi in July 2016. The last time the 33-year-old netted this season, was back in the 4-1 victory over Fiorentina back in December of last year. Having faced Juve six times in his career, Džeko has netted twice and been on the winning side on just two occasions, he will be hoping to make it number three on Sunday.

Meanwhile, de Ligt, who has featured 13 times domestically so far is expected to be the man tasked with trying to stop the experienced striker. The 20-year-old has a pass success rate on 89.5%, but with the Roma front line on his heels, the Netherlands international could forced into mistakes, which Roma can capitalise on. That said, de Ligt will have to be on his game if he is to stop Džeko and the rest of the Giallorossi strike force.