Roma vs AC Milan. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats, and more

AS Roma will host AC Milan in the Serie A 3rd-round match at the Stadio Olimpico. The fixture will take place on Saturday, September 2, beginning at 00:15 IST.

Parimatch News will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the upcoming match.

Roma News & Current Form: 

The group stage of the European Cup tournaments will start soon. For now, all eyes are on the domestic arenas. In the Italian Serie A on the 1st of September there will be two matches of the 3rd round. In the latest of them at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the local Roma and Milan will compete.

Last season the Wolves finished sixth in the Italian top league. The team scored 63 points and will play in the UEFA Europa League this season. As for the Coppa Italia, Roma failed there and crashed out at an early stage of the tournament.

But Jose Mourinho’s wards performed brightly in the Europa League last season. They were stronger than many rivals and made it to the final of the second most prestigious club tournament in the Old World. However, in the main clash of the tournament, the Romans lost on penalties to Spanish Sevilla FC.

This summer, the Romans’ squad underwent an important renewal. Unfortunately, it was not without some painful losses. First, the leading defender Roger Ibanez moved to Al-Ahli, and then the experienced Nemanja Matic moved to Rennes FC. Moreover, the Serbian agreed a contract with the French club without the knowledge of the Giallorossi’s management.

“Mourinho? Everyone knows Mourinho as a coach and I hope that one day they will be able to say that I was the José Mourinho of players. I thank him for his trust in me.”

Matic is proud to be trained by the legendary Mourinho.

To replace the departed players, the Romans signed two Paris Saint-Germain midfielders – Leandro Paredes and Renato Sanches, as well as striker Sardar Azmoun, who failed to find himself at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. They took the Portuguese and the Iranian on loan for a season with the right to buy. However, Sardar continues to recover from an injury sustained in early August.

Squad of AS Roma ahead of the game with Hellas Verona FC

In the renewed squad Roma in two matches of the Italian championship played a draw with US Salernitana (2:2) and lost to Hellas Verona FC (1:2). The result of the meeting with the Garnets is not quite natural. One goal of the Wolves was disallowed due to a microscopic offside. There was also a controversial moment with a penalty not awarded to Roma.

The Romans were the first to score through the efforts of Andrea Belotti, to which the visitors responded with a double by Antonio Candreva. With eight minutes to go, Belotti also scored a second goal and saved his team from a very unpleasant defeat.

As for the game with Verona, Roma conceded in the fourth minute. Then the Wolves rushed to get back, but in the end the Roman club managed to play until the second missed goal on 45+3 minutes. At the start of the second half it seemed that Jose Mourinho had intelligently restructured his team’s game with four substitutions, with Houssem Aouar sending the ball into the opponents’ goal on 56 minutes. 

However, the team from Rome again safely continued to miss their chances to get at least a draw. From the 84th minute Roma played in the majority, but even this did not help the Roman club.

Jose Mourinho’s side looked good in attack, but occasionally made mistakes in finishing – they only converted three of their 40 shots in the two rounds. Probably, the performance was hampered by injuries to the leading strikers: Tammy Abraham and the newly acquired Sardar Azmoun are unavailable. To remedy the situation, Roma have agreed a loan deal for Romelu Lukaku, who looked very good at FC Inter Milan.

AC Milan News & Current Form: 

The Rossoneri have not managed to avoid serious personnel losses this summer either. Two leading midfielders – Sandro Tonali and Brahim Diaz – left the team. The Italian moved to Newcastle United FC, and the Spaniard returned to Real Madrid CF, as his rental agreement with the Red and Blacks expired.

It was also recently announced that the club have loaned out Belgian midfielder Alexis Saelemaekers. This season Alexis will spend in Bologna FC, the modest Serie A club paid 500 thousand euros for the rent and will have the right to buy the player for nine million euros. Last season Saelemaekers played 30 games for Milan in Serie A, scored two goals and made three assists.

However, with the proceeds from the sale of Tonali, Milan have acquired two Chelsea FC midfielders – Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic, AZ Alkmaar midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, FC Red Bull Salzburg forward Noah Okafor and Villarreal CF winger Samuel Chukwueze. There are clearly more acquisitions than losses.

The club’s top recruits instantly settled into their new team. In two matches in the Italian league, they helped Stefano Pioli’s side beat Bologna (2:0) and defeated Torino FC (4:1). Pulisic scored in both meetings. Loftus-Cheek and Reijnders recorded one goal each.

Most importantly, the rookies quickly found common ground with the Rossoneri’s attacking leaders Olivier Giroud and Raphael Leao. The Frenchman was directly involved in four of the six goals scored. He had three goals and one assist. After the victory over Torino, Giroud and Stefano Pioli said that this season their team will be competing for the Scudetto.

Recall, the season before last Pioli’s wards managed to become champions of Italy. Last year the team gained 70 points and took the fourth position in the standings. The only joy is that Pioli’s wards will take part in the current UEFA Champions League draw.

Newly signed player of AC Milan – Christian Pulisic

Also last season, AC Milan managed to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League. It passed Tottenham Hotspur FC and SSC Napoli, but lost to Inter Milan in both meetings (0:2, 0:1).

The only bad thing for the Devils is that Ismael Bennacer is in the infirmary. The midfielder underwent knee surgery and will return to the squad only by mid-November. At the same time, defense leader Davide Calabria has recovered and took part in the previous 2 matches.

Roma form guide: D-L

AC Milan form guide: W-W

Roma vs AC Milan Head-To-Head Record:

• February 28, 2021: AS Roma 1 – 2 AC Milan (Serie A);
• October 31, 2021: AS Roma 1 – 2 AC Milan (Serie A);
• January 6, 2022:  AC Milan 3 – 1 AS Roma (Serie A);
• January 8, 2023: AC Milan 2 – 2 AS Roma (Serie A);
• April 29, 2023: AS Roma 1 – 1 AC Milan (Serie A).

Roma vs AC Milan Predicted XI:

Roma’s possible starting lineup (3-5-2): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Llorente; Karsdorp, Pellegrini, Paredes, Aouar, Spinazzola; Belotti, El Shaarawy.

AC Milan’s possible starting lineup (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria, Thiaw, Tomori, Hernandez; Loftus-Cheek, Krunic, Reijnders; Pulisic, Giroud, Leao.

Statistical preview of the match Roma vs AC Milan:

• Roma’s First XI average age is 29.5 yrs, while the total value of the squad is 385 mln euros.
• Milan’s First XI average age is 27.0 yrs, while the total value of the squad is 535 mln euros.
• There has been an exchange of goals in 5 previous meetings involving AS Roma in the Italian league.
• At least 3 goals have been scored in the Roma’s last 5 matches in Serie A.
• Roma are strong on their home field: they have not lost 12 out of 14 previous matches in the championship (8 wins, 4 draws).
• The Milanese have not conceded in 12 of the last 13 meetings in the championship (8 wins, 4 draws).
• Milan have scored at least twice in 4 of their previous 5 Serie A matches.
• On the road, Milan have not lost in 5 of the last 6 matches in the Italian league (3 wins, 2 draws).

What has been said before the match:

“Mourinho texted me saying I should expect something epic upon my arrival. I never expected to see so many people,” said the Belgian striker. “It really moved me because something like that doesn’t happen very often and it stimulates me to give everything for the team.”

“It was really nice to see fans so excited for my arrival and I can’t wait to start playing for this team.”

Romelu Lukaku about his decision to play for AS Roma and arrival to Italy:

“Mourinho? I always wanted to work with him ever since I was a small child. For the third time I got to work with him. He knows me well, he knows my family well and he knows me as a man. I know him well too. Together we can do beautiful things. We have a good team here. We have to work and improve game by game.”

Gaffer of AC Milan Stefano Pioli ahead of the game with the Wolves:

“Every match is important, we’re playing against a very strong team managed by a great coach. Roma did not get off to a good start, but they have important stats in some aspects. We want to win and build on the successes against Bologna and Torino.”

“We will look to be determined, alert, proactive and dangerous. In matches like this, you have to minimize the margin for error, we have prepared as best we can to pass such a difficult test.” 

“We know the atmosphere in Roma well, it’s always nice to play in full stadiums facing challenging opposition. With or without Dybala and Lukaku, the Giallorossi are fit, they have quality, they are fearsome in dead ball situations and in general, they don’t tend to concede much.” 

Roma vs AC Milan Prediction:

Jose Mourinho’s Roma is a rather illogical and unpredictable team, capable of creating wonders. When they are expected to win, they may lose, and vice versa. In the match against AC Milan, the sensation will not be a surprise either, but to unequivocally assume a victory for the Wolves looks too risky a venture. It’s all about statistics: the Giallorossi haven’t beaten the Rossoneri in 11 matches, and the Milanese appear to be too powerful early in the championship.

Here we believe that the men of Pioli will not lose, and we also expect to see goals, based on the statistics of face-to-face meetings (the teams they have exchanged goals in the last six h2h meetings, and at Roma’s stadium – in five in a row). The excellent attacking performances of the opponents at the start of the 23/24 campaign also suggest the entertaining game. The Rossoneri have scored six goals in two rounds and have never scored less than twice a game. The key strikers Giroud and Leão are in top form, while newcomers Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek and Reynders have already established themselves in the Red-Black squad. The transformed Rossoneri look a lot stronger than the revitalized Roma. Although that’s only for now. The Romans have also scored in the previous two rounds, averaging 1.5 goals per 90 minutes. 

Parimatch News staff prediction:

We say:  The match total will be over 1.5 and Milan will not lose – Yes.

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