Roma winger Stephan El Shaarawy. (Photo : Getty Images)
Current top contenders AS Roma (15-4-8, 53 points) and ACF Fiorentina (16-6-5, 53 points) will meet on Friday, March 4th for a crucial 2015-2016 Serie A match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome as both squads try to catch up with top two teams Juventus and Napoli in the league table.
Roma is currently on a roll, winning their sixth consecutive game during the last matchday, and had been unbeaten in 12 of their last 13 outings. Their only loss during the stretch was against the defending champions Juve, who beat them 1-0 at the Juventus Stadium on Jan. 24th.
Their previous loss before that was way back in Nov. 29th of last year, falling to Atalanta, 2-0, in a red card-marred game at the Stadio Olimpico.
I Giallorossi routed middling team Empoli, 3-1, during their most recent game last Saturday on the road at the Stadio Carlo Castellani, as per Yahoo Sports.
Italian winger Stephan El Shaarawy scored a double for Luciano Spalletti's side at the fifth and 74th minutes while midfielder Miralem Pjanic added another one at the 27th to complete La Maggica's three-goal haul against I Azzurri.
Empoli was able to grab a consolation via an own goal from Roma defender Ervin Zukanovic as the ball bounced off him from the shot of Empoli defender Lorenzo Ariaudo, which momentarily equalized the game.
Meanwhile, Fiorentina had a tough game against second-running SSC Napoli at their home stadium of Stadio Artemio Franchi on Monday that ended up tied 1-1, as reported by BBC Sport.
The goals came in early, both inside the first 10 minutes of the match, and then the two teams went scoreless for the rest of the way as defenses began to flex their muscles.
Viola defender Marcos Alonso opened the scoring right at the sixth-minute mark, which was then equalized by this season's top goalscorer, striker Gonzalo Higuaín, just one minute later.
The draw made the Lilies fail to overtake Roma in the overall standings, as they are now tied on points but the Wolves has the higher goal differential tally.
The predicted result is a tough 2-1 win for Roma. The match will be tight and full of struggles but the capital city team will prevail.
Roma starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Szczesny; Maicon, Rudiger, Zubas, Digne; Nainggolan, Keita; Salah, Pjanic, El Shaarawy; Perotti
Fiorentina starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Tatarusanu; Roncaglia, Gonzalo, Astori, Alonso; Badelj, Vecino; Tello, Fernandez, Valero; Kalinic
