Monday's Serie A : Hellas Verona vs AS Roma Preview Match

Monday’s Serie A action kicks off at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi as early relegation candidates Hellas Verona take on top-four hopefuls Roma in a high-stakes fixture.

It’s a must-win game for both sides, albeit for different reasons, which promises plenty of excitement to neutrals

A 2-1 loss at Sassuolo last Monday was Verona’s sixth defeat in a row, marking just the third time they have lost that many consecutive matches in the competition’s history. 

Ominously for the club, on both other occasions (1978/79 and 2017/18) they went on to lose the seventh before eventually being relegated – a prospect not improbable once more as they sat just a point above the bottom after 11 Serie A rounds.

Despite that loss on Monday, manager Salvatore Bocchetti, who signed a five-year deal before that defeat, has revealed faith in his team.

He’ll believe that the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi is the perfect place to start a fightback as Verona’s only win this campaign came here, whilst winning their last two home games (one awarded) against Roma gives them a chance to record three such wins for the first time since March 1986.

Roma won 2-1 at HJK on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League, keeping their progression hopes alive and leaving boss José Mourinho “satisfied”. 

Even with another important European game on the horizon, Mourinho will be hard-pressed to juggle his side especially after losing 1-0 to Napoli in league action last weekend, a result he stated wasn’t “deserving.”

 That defeat halted a three-game winning SA run, leaving them outside top-four, and another loss here could potentially drag them out of the top-six.

Thankfully for Mourinho, his side have been sharp on the travels, having notched three successive away league wins, which is their best such run since August 2020.

With two of those victories coming via a goal beyond the 70th minute, patience could be the order of the day for Roma as they aim to get back on track.