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The Stadio Olimpico has become the bedrock on which Roma’s excellent season has thus far been built upon, with nine home victories and just three defeats to go alongside a solitary draw with AC Milan.

In recent weeks, they have been particularly clinical and efficient on their own turf, winning three of their last four home matches without conceding against Cagliari, Cremonese and most eye-catchingly an impressive 2-0 win over Stuttgart in the Europa League.

Contrast this with a Juventus side who have lost their last three on their travels without really impressing on the eye either. A big defeat at Atalanta was followed by a narrow loss against Inter and an embarrassing 5-2 loss in Istanbul to Galatasaray, with a spineless showing that eventually culminated in them being knocked out of the Champions League in the play-off round.

Even their home loss last time out v Como showed no signs of them being a side that can go to their top four rivals and win.

Roma’s strong home form this campaign under new manager Gian Piero Gaserini is the driving force behind this selection. Only once in 13 home matches this season have they failed to cover this line (only managing two against Napoli), and nine of the remaining 12 saw them register five or more, showing that when they’re onsong, they can rack up the shots and test the opposing keeper.

Whilst Juve on their travels have only conceded four or more shots on target in six matches this season, four of those have been away at Inter MIlan, Como, Bologna and Napoli. Those are all teams of a similar calibre to Roma, so it’s reasonable to assume their shot suppression numbers are massaged slightly by dominant performances over bottom half sides. With Donyell Malen in particularly good nick for the hosts of late, expect them to cause Michele di Gregorio and his defence plenty of problems.

Quite simply, when midfielder Pisilli has started a game in recent months, he has been overwhelmingly likely to have at least a single effort on goal. Averaging 1.4 shots p90 across his last 20 starts in both Serie A and the Europa League, he’s had a shot in 18 of them, with a game high of four against Sassuolo in early January.

Barring the odd game where he’s had to go off early for a slight injury, Pisilli also tends to get nearly the full 90 minutes each game, which should mean ample opportunity to get a sight of goal and pull the trigger here. Only Panathinaikos have managed to stop the Italian in his last 15 from having a shot, with Serie A defences seemingly helpless to limiting his impact on Roma’s impressive attack.

Another midfielder with a penchant for having a pop at goal when opportunity arises this campaign is Frenchman Thuram for Juventus.

He’s had a shot in four of his last five, nine of his last 10 and 12 of his last 15 in the league, including a run of nine straight with at least one effort. In what is likely to be a fairly open and transitional match-up (if both sides’ recent performances are anything to go by), there should be plenty of times where the midfielders on both teams will have space to run into and drive with the ball, force the defence to back pedal and get a good view of their opponent’s goal.

In a system that has seen a lot of rotation and positional switches in recent weeks, in an effort to find a winning solution, Thuram remains a constant presence in the midfield, driving his side forward when on the ball.

This time to Serie A where we have another familiar name, and in fact one who is still contracted to Aston Villa, having joined Roma on loan in January. Malen only scored 10 goals in 46 appearances for Unai Emery’s side, albeit the majority of those appearances came as a substitute. He has, however, made a superb start to life in Italy, notching five goals in six appearances and averaging 3.8 shots per 90.

Roma are currently well positioned for Champions League qualification, occupying 4th spot in Serie A and 2nd spot in the home table. They have scored two goals or more in their last three league outings. They host a Juventus side who are in 5th spot, four points behind them. They are winless in three league games and have conceded two goals or more in their last three games. They have failed to win more often than not on the road. Roma, and in particular Malen, should be able to exploit that lack of confidence.