Two sides enjoying admirable unbeaten runs in the Italian top flight will lock horns on Sunday as Roma play host to Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma are looking to consolidate their hold on fifth spot, while Fiorentina have moved up to 10th with just three games left to go.
Match preview
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Even though a late charge for the top four is now off the cards, Roma did not rest on their laurels as they subjected already-relegated SPAL to a 6-1 drubbing in midweek.
Paulo Fonseca has now witnessed his team pick up four wins from their last five in the Italian top flight, and Roma are well-positioned to secure Europa League qualification.
Naturally there will be some disappointment among the Giallorossi camp, however, as the 2019-20 campaign will be just the second time in seven seasons that Roma have failed to make the top four.
The main focus now for Fonseca and his players will be fending off AC Milan for fifth spot, who sit just two points behind Roma having won their last three fixtures.
Of course, Roma can still return to the Champions League via Europa League success, with I Giallorossi travelling to Sevilla for the first leg of their last-16 tie in early August.
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Meanwhile, Fiorentina managed to stretch their unbeaten run to six matches as they held high-flying Inter Milan to a goalless stalemate last time out.
Giuseppe Iachini's side have now enjoyed three victories and three draws from their last six matches - a run of results which has quashed any fears of relegation for La Viola at this late stage of the season.
Fiorentina were never expected to drop down far enough to become embroiled in a relegation dogfight, and Iachini can now focus on mounting a charge for a top-half finish with three games left to play.
La Viola's 16th-placed finish last season was a bitter disappointment for the Fiorentina camp, but Iachini's men are all but guaranteed to improve on that standing this time around as they look to rebuild for the 2020-21 campaign.
Roma took the spoils in a comfortable 4-1 victory in the reverse fixture, and Sunday's game will represent the 187th meeting in all competitions between the two Italian giants.
Roma Serie A form: LWWWDW
Fiorentina Serie A form: WDDWWD
Team News
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Roma's Nicolo Zaniolo has struggled with injures for a large portion of the season, but the 21-year-old came off the bench to bag Roma's sixth against SPAL and could be in contention to start here.
However, fellow attacker Cengiz Under was forced to miss out in midweek and is a doubt here, while Federico Fazio, Roger Ibanez, Juan Jesus and Davide Santon are all on the treatment table.
Edin Dzeko was also given a rest against SPAL as Nikola Kalinic was handed a rare start up top, and the Croatian's opener inside 10 minutes will surely come into Fonseca's thinking as to who will spearhead the Roma attack against Fiorentina.
As for Fiorentina, Gaetano Castrovilli picked up his tenth booking of the season against Inter and will play no part in the clash with Roma.
Erick Pulgar is therefore expected to come back into the Viola midfield, but Dalbert was hauled off in midweek and could be forced to miss this one out.
Roma possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Mancini, Smalling, Kolarov; Peres, Cristante, Diawara, Spinazzola; Zaniolo, Mkhitaryan; Dzeko
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Terracciano; Milenkovic, Pezzella, Caceres; Chiesa, Pulgar, Duncan, Badelj, Lirola; Ribery, Cutrone
We say: Roma 3-1 Fiorentina
Both clubs should go into gameweek 36 brimming with confidence given their respective unbeaten runs, but Roma's attacking stars have been shining brightly in recent weeks and we expect Fonseca's men to march to victory at the Stadio Olimpico.
Ben Knapton
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 51.51%. A win for Fiorentina had a probability of 24.63% and a draw had a probability of 23.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Roma win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.13%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.68%) and 2-0 (8.7%). The likeliest Fiorentina win was 0-1 (6.57%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.27%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Roma would win this match.
