Atletico Madrid vs AS Roma Predictions, 22 Nov 2017

The Match Is Over. Score: 2-0

Atletico Madrid v AS Roma Predictions for Wednesday's 7.45pm kick-off Champions League group fixture facing La Liga hosts Atletico Madrid and Serie A side AS Roma at Wanda Metropolitano. Atletico are remarkably still without a win in Group C in the Champions League (CL), but still have a slim chance to progress if they can beat AS Roma in this game.

Match status: 2017-18 Champions League Group Stages
Kick-off: Wednesday 22 Nov 2017, 07:45pm GMT
Venue: "Wanda Metropolitano" in Madrid, Spain

Atletico Madrid v AS Roma Team News

If they are to win, they need to do something which they currently struggle to do - score goals. Furthermore, they might need to score more than 1 as Roma have yet to draw a blank when playing away this season. And this might pose a problem for Atletico, who’ve failed to score 2+ goals in the last 5 matches (all competitions).

In fact, Diego Simeone’s men have only managed to score more than 1 goal on 4 occasions this season (17 matches, all competitions). Although still hard to beat (1 defeat), their lack of goals going forward have resulted in a surprisingly high number of draws this season (10) - 7 draws in the last 10 games!
Domestically, Atletico have scored 16 goals in 12 matches, their worst tally since 2005.

Contrast this with high-flying Roma, who are fresh from a 2-1 Derby della Capitale win against Lazio, their 6th win on the bounce. This run also includes the 3-0 thumping of Chelsea in the CL. In the CL, Edin Dzeko alone (3 goals) has scored more than Atletico (2).

The Italians know that a point in Madrid will lock up qualification to the next round of the CL. However, to be certain of keeping Antonio Conte's Chelsea behind them and gain the important seeding that winning the group will provide, they might need the win here.

Teams' Possible Starting Lineups:

Atletico Madrid: Oblak - Luis, Godin, Gimenez, Juanfran - Niguez, Partey, Gabi, Koke - Correa, Griezmann (4-4-2 formation)

AS Roma: Alisson - Kolarov, Jesus, Manolas, Florenzi - Strootman, Rossi, Nainggolan - Perotti, Dzeko, Shaarawy (4-3-3 formation)

Missing Players of Atletico Madrid and AS Roma:

Atletico Madrid: Stefan Savic, Diego Costa.

AS Roma: Rick Karsdorp.

Head-to-Head Record: Atletico Madrid v AS Roma

2017-18 Champions League Group Stages
AS Roma 0-0 Atletico Madrid

Conclusion and Match Preview:

Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco spoke highly of the team's effort and future prospects to the clubs website after the derby this weekend, stating that “at Roma, the most difficult thing is to get in the player's heads, and now we’ve got to that stage.” He also had some special words for midfield fighter Radja Nainggolan, who recently recovered from injury in record time: “We call him “Ninja”, but I’d say he’s a superhero.”

A matter of margins? Although winless in the CL in 4 matches so far, Atletico have been equal to or better than their opponents in some underlying statistics; in the 0-0 draw with Roma in the group’s opening game, they were 9-1 in shots on goal. In total, Atletico have fired 26 shots on goal, while allowing only 9. And still their goal difference is 2-3!