Roma vs Virtus Entella Predictions

Roma have been given a cushy draw for the last 16 of the Coppa Italia, as they welcome third-tier opposition on Monday night. The club are aiming to end their run without silverware, as it’s coming up on 11 years since their last trophy. The club’s best chance comes in the Coppa Italia, which could be the perfect competition for a side like the Giallorossi. They’ve got some problems with consistency in the league, which has left them down in sixth. However, Eusebio Di Francesco’s side have impressed in Europe.

The club meet Virtus Entella on Monday, hoping to build on results against the likes of Chelsea and CSKA Moscow. Their European form took them to the semis of last season’s Champions League, where they narrowly lost out to Liverpool in the last four. This season they’ve made strides again in the knockout competition, progressing to the last 16 and getting a winnable tie against Porto. This could be another great year for the Giallorossi in the cup competitions, but last season’s shock loss to Torino in the Coppa Italia will be on their minds here.

The visitors aren’t quite Torino, they’re a side who are fifth in the Italian third tier, a division which is split into three groups of 20 sides each. It’s not a huge endorsement of their ability, so it’s no surprise that the visitors are massive underdogs ahead of this visit to the capital. They’re still a long way from promotion to the second tier, so stepping up to eliminate a Champions League side is going to take a herculean effort from the visitors.

Roma should be expected to win easily, given that they’ve averaged 2.67 goals per game at home to Serie A sides this season. They’ve racked up goals against top European teams here in the last 12 months, so we expect them to stroll past the visitors. However, the hosts do have an issue with their defence, which has been far too leaky so far. They have conceded 1.56 goals per game at home, and the visitors have recently troubled Serie A opposition.

Virtus Entella won a penalty shoot-out after a 3-3 draw with Genoa in the last round. That shows their issues at the back, but they can also score goals against sides from the top flight. We can see them scoring in this trip, but with Roma scoring close to three goals per game against top tier sides, we don’t see this as much of a contest. As a result, over 3.5 goals is our tip for what should be an entertaining tie on Monday night.