Hellas Verona will be aiming to end a run of six successive league defeats when they host Roma in Serie A on Monday.
The visitors, meanwhile, could move as high as third in the table with a victory depending on results elsewhere.
Having finished in the top half of Serie A in each of their three seasons since being promoed to Italy’s top flight in 2019, few people could have foreseen Verona’s struggles this season coming.
I Gialloblu looked in store for a fairly ordinary season after picking up five points from their first five matches, but six consecutive losses have seen them fall to second-bottom in the table.
Despite holding no UEFA Pro license, five-time Italy international Salvatore Bocchetti has been handed the managerial role following the sacking of his predecessor Gabriele Cioffi earlier this month. However, the 35-year-old has failed to make the desire impact having overseen 2-1 defeats to AC Milan and Sassuolo in his first two games in charge.
Bocchetti will be desperate to prove his worth by turning that around against Roma at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on Monday, but he will be aware that he and his players are up against it given the two sides’ contrasting form.
Europa Conference League winners Roma were expected to push for Champions League qualification under Jose Mourinho this season, especially having signed Paolo Dybala during the summer, and so far they look set to do so.
However, their 1-0 defeat at home to league leaders Napoli last weekend represented a sizable setback for them, especially with the visitors’ winner coming late in the game courtesy of Victor Osimhen’s stupendous turn and strike with only 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
Mourinho’s side kept their hopes of progressing to the Europa League knockout stages alive by beating HJK Helsinki 2-1 in Finland on Thursday night, meaning they will be guaranteed second spot in Group C should they beat Ludogorets Razgrad at Stadio Olimpico next week.
In the meantime, I Giallorossi will hope to move back into the top four by piling on the misery for Verona with a victory on Monday night, although their position in the table will depend on how the four teams above them fare across the weekend’s action.
Hellas Verona Serie A form:
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Roma Serie A form:
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Roma form (all competitions):
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We say: Hellas Verona 1-2 Roma
We can envisage Roma earning a narrow victory against Verona on Monday, with Mourinho’s men likely to be a little fatigued after their exploits in Finland on Thursday.
Verona have scored in each of their last five defeats so it would be little surprise to see them do so once again here, but the visitors should have too much in the end.