Cremonese v Roma is a Serie A Week 24 match played on Tuesday at 18:30: odds, predictions, TV and streaming
Exceptionally, this Serie A fixture concludes on a Tuesday and among the last teams to take to the pitch is José Mourinho’s Roma, who were given a few extra days off after their Europa League play-off return leg. The Giallorossi were obliged to put in a great performance having lost the first leg by the narrowest of margins, and they did not disappoint expectations.
The Portuguese coach recovered Dybala in extremis and took advantage of Belotti’s desire to show off: the former Torino player, lined up in place of the battered Abraham, scored one of the two goals that condemned the Austrians to elimination (2-0), managing not to make the English striker regret it. A comeback was to be and comeback it was: Roma reached the round of 16, where they will meet Real Sociedad. A few days before, Pellegrini and his team-mates had brought home another victory of enormous specific weight, beating Verona 1-0 (with Mou on the bench, Roma’s ‘short snout’ victory is 11). Three points that allowed Mourinho’s team to re-enter the top four, resuming the run-up that had been slowed in the previous round by the draw in Lecce. Not losing too many points on the road is crucial if the Champions League goal is to be achieved. It could be detrimental to fail against opponents like Cremonese, who only a few weeks ago played a nasty trick on the Giallorossi.
Mou wants to “avenge” the cup disaster
If Roma are out of the Coppa Italia it’s the “fault” of the Giallorossi, who on 1 February last year beat the Stadio Olimpico 1-2 in what is still their first win of the season in 90 minutes.
Tsadjout’s exultation
The qualification to the semi-finals, where Fiorentina await them, has not given any impetus to Davide Ballardini’s men, who are still without a win in the league. A record streak (30) that equals that of Ancona between 1993 and 2004. Since the cup tie, Cremonese have scored just one point between Lecce, Napoli and Torino, drawing 2-2 last Monday at home to the granata. And the league table is looking increasingly scary: the Lombardi are last with nine points, the result of nine draws, and now seem to have one foot and a half in Serie B.
Cremonese v Roma: latest line-up info
Cremonese’s attack will see the confirmation of Tsadjout, who scored against Torino: the former Cittadella man will once again play alongside Okereke, with the convalescent Dessers set to come on as the game progresses. In defence, Chiriches will be missing, the only one not available in Ballardini’s squad: the defensive trio will be formed by Ferrari, Bianchetti and Vasquez.
Mourinho’s main doubt concerns the attack: Dybala is not 100% but should make it, while Abraham is slightly favoured over Belotti. On the left flank, Spinazzola, who was one of the best on the pitch against Salzburg, is in a duel with El Shaarawy. In defence, Smalling will be missing: Kumbulla will have a chance.
The prediction
Roma have always struggled against Cremonese in their two league and cup matches at the Stadio Olimpico. In the first leg Smalling scored the opener midway through the second half (for a change it ended 1-0), while in the Coppa Italia the Giallorossi made their usual mistakes in front of goal and ended up paying dearly for it. Since that challenge, Roma have never scored more than two goals in their subsequent matches, and it is highly probable that the match at the Zini – where the ‘Grigiorossi’ have lost their last four matches – will be another low-scoring affair in which Mourinho and his men could win by a narrow margin. It cannot be excluded that the first half ends in a draw, due to an excessively conservative attitude of Ballardini’s men.
Cremonese v Roma: possible line-ups
- CREMONESE (3-5-2): Carnesecchi; Ferrari, Bianchetti, Vasquez; Sernicola, Benassi, Meité, Pickel, Valeri; Tsadjout, Okereke.
- ROMA (3-4-1-2): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Kumbulla, Ibanez; Zalewski, Cristante, Matic, El Shaarawy; Pellegrini; Dybala, Abraham.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 0-2