Serie A: Roma can stop the rot in vital AC Milan match-up

Holly Thackeray | January 8, 2016

Roma v AC Milan

Rudi Garcia in need of Roman revival

Rival bosses Rudi Garcia of Roma and Sinisa Mihajlovic of AC Milan may find this blockbuster battle between the two Italian giants has a real bearing on their shaky Serie A futures.

Under-pressure Giallorossi gaffer Garcia has looked a lame duck for some time, but has defiantly continued in his Eternal City post, with the Romans currently six points off the league summit. In fairness, while the beleaguered boss has failed to find more than one win in normal time across the Roman side’s last nine outings, they have not lost since November.

While, crucially for this clash, the Italian capital club have a commendable record on home turf, with just one Serie A defeat at the Stadio Olimpico this season.

As the Rossoneri have taken spoils from merely a single scuffle on the road at Roma in their last 11 across all competitions, and have suffered a smattering of away woe under new manager Mihajlovic, the Milan men look a little long at 27/10 to triumph.

Draw your swords

Both teams have a mixed record of late so, should you fancy neither to have the gumption for glory, a draw at 23/10 is a little more tempting, with six of their previous 14 meetings ending evenly, and so almost one draw per the past seven terms.

Still, there could be a lot at stake for both managers in this match and, as these stumbling sides are the pair from the top Serie A seven that have leaked most goals, customers can snatch a nifty 11/5 price for over 3.5 goals to occur. Hosts Roma hold the edge in that department and are division second-top scorers with 35 in 18, just one behind Fiorentina. With that in mind, Garcia’s guys look good at 3/1 to win and both teams score.

Giallorossi goal-getters and Milan marksmen

Roma have been finding the net again with ease lately, scoring five in their past two tussles, and adaptable academy product Alessandro Florenzi is in-form with two in as many of his last matches, so seems value at 15/8 to be on target anytime again.

Nigerian teenage sensation Umar Sadiq has also provided glimpses of genius and similarly boasts two strikes in two. Likely to be thrown in at the deep end again at some point, the young striker is 6/1 to score last. While, inspirational Iago Falque (15/8 to fire in anytime) is another forward-thinking goal threat to look out for.

As for Milan, they drew a blank as they were bested by Bologna last time out and will be looking for a response from their frontmen. For the guests, Colombian hitman Carlos Bacca and fledgling French attacker M’baye Niang look most promising at 8/1 to open the scoring and 11/4 in the anytime market respectively.

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Check out more superb Serie A content on our dedicated page for the Italian top-flight.

Coral’s top tip: Umar Sadiq is a star in the making, so back the teenager at 6/1 to strike last.