Relentless Roma take on winless Hellas Verona on Sunday evening, with both sides at opposite ends of the Serie A standings.
A perfect record of three wins from as many games - plus several more European successes - sees the Giallorossi travel to Veneto in fine form, while their hosts still seek a first league point of the season.
Match preview
© Reuters
In coming from behind to beat CSKA Sofia in the inaugural Europa Conference League group stage in midweek, Roma posted their sixth victory from six under new coach Jose Mourinho, whose start to life in the Italian capital could hardly have gone any better.
Having found another level under the watchful eye of the experienced Portuguese tactician, in-form Lorenzo Pellegrini levelled an unlikely CSKA opener before Stephan El Shaarawy put Roma ahead. Gianluca Mancini later found the net and Pellegrini scored again, before summer signing Tammy Abraham clipped in the fifth late on.
That continental conquest followed a momentum-building late victory over Sassuolo last weekend, which sent Mourinho chasing off down the touchline like in days gone by when El Shaarawy stole a 91st-minute winner.
Beating their Emilian counterparts not only brought about a first six-game winning streak at home since 2017, but also helped their illustrious boss win his opening five games at a club for the first time ever in a long and trophy-laden career.
In all, an aggregate score of 19-4 from six competitive matches so far in the 2021-22 campaign demonstrates the intent of his new-look Giallorossi, who in their previous 60 Serie A seasons have only twice picked up four wins in the first four games - both in 2013-14 and the following year, when they went on to finish second each time.
They will now look to match that feat against downtrodden opponents at Stadio Bentegodi, where the capital club have lost only two of their last 30 league games against Verona - including a 3-0 defeat awarded last year for an embarrassing administrative error.
© Reuters
An abysmal early period in the reign of now-departed coach Eusebio Di Francesco has seen Verona lose both their first two home league matches, and they could potentially lose the first three for the first time in their entire top-flight history.
Winless in their last 10 league games at Bentegodi, only twice have they suffered a longer such streak in Serie A, further undermining the already shaky foundations beneath Di Francesco's feet.
At the tail-end of previous incumbent Ivan Juric's previously successful time in charge, Hellas won just one of their final 13 league matches last term - including none of the last nine - so clearly a rebuild was required.
Few quality recruits were forthcoming, though, so defeats to Sassuolo, Inter and Bologna will have come as little surprise, even if they only lost out by a single goal to the latter last weekend due to Mattias Svanberg's slightly fortuitous 79th-minute goal.
Nonetheless, that was enough for the Verona hierarchy to call time on the former Roma manager's brief stay at the Venetian club, with ex-Udinese coach Igor Tudor now set to make his debut in the dugout against the free-scoring Giallorossi - potentially a baptism of fire.
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Long-term absentee Leonardo Spinazzola aside, a fully fit Roma squad will travel to meet Verona on Sunday evening, allowing Jose Mourinho to rotate his resources amid an arduous schedule - which will culminate with his first Derby della Capitale next weekend.
Jordan Veretout and Nicolo Zaniolo could come back into the visitors' midfield, having been benched on Thursday, while Tammy Abraham is expected to retake the centre-forward spot from Eldor Shomurodov following his second goal for the club last time out, with the Uzbek forward shifting out wide.
Regular starters in European competition, Carles Perez and Gonzalo Villar will both have to make do with a return to the bench, but fellow youngster Riccardo Calafiori deputises for the injured Matias Vina.
Now under new management, Verona also have a relatively clean bill of health, but new boss Igor Tudor must cope without captain Miguel Veloso, who has sustained a thigh injury. Therefore, Adrien Tameze could be joined by Antonin Barak in central midfield for the hosts.
Both Gianluca Frabotta and Nicolo Casale are also doubts, but may yet feature if passed fit in time.
Up front, Gianluca Caprari - who made his Serie A debut for Roma in 2011 and has scored three times against them since - is expected to start in tandem with recent loan signing Giovanni Simeone, who has gone off the boil over the past 12 months.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Dawidowicz, Gunter, Magnani; Faraoni, Tameze, Barak, Lazovic; Bessa, Caprari; Simeone
Roma possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ibanez, Calafiori; Veretout, Cristante; Zaniolo, Pellegrini, Shomurodov; Abraham
We say: Hellas Verona 0-2 Roma
While Roma's run must surely end before too long, they can add another three points to their tally on Sunday, against a Verona side lacking ideas in attack and now leaking more goals than in recent seasons.
Likely to be back to near full-strength, the visitors have already shown that they possess the prowess to blow mediocre opponents away, and will do so again this time out.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Roma win with a probability of 56.12%. A draw had a probability of 22.4% and a win for Hellas Verona had a probability of 21.48%.
The most likely scoreline for a Roma win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (9.74%) and 0-2 (9.17%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.51%), while for a Hellas Verona win it was 2-1 (5.67%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 1.9% likelihood.
