AS Roma vs Salernitana prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-08-19 16:30.
This will be the third and maybe the last campaign for Jose Mourinho at Roma, who will commence their Serie A (SA) campaign against Salernitana, just as they did this time last year! They started with a 1-0 away victory on that occasion, but went on to finish sixth and fail to achieve their aim of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League as the Portuguese coach sacrificed the league for the UEFA Europa League, where they unluckily lost the final to Sevilla on penalties.
Not even a second consecutive European final could overshadow Roma’s long-standing offensive troubles, as they scored only the ninth-highest number of goals in the previous SA season (50), with the long-term injury of Tammy Abraham aggravating their troubles. Mourinho has been able to add some interesting names to his squad so far this summer (Evan Ndicka, Houssem Aouar), but their highly desired prolific striker is yet to come.
Salernitana were heading to the bottom three when manager Paulo Sousa came to rescue the club, and their following run of only three SA losses from 16 matches (W4, D9) ensured they finished a comfortable 11 points above the drop zone. They have so far managed to keep striker Boulaye Dia in the squad after he netted 16 SA goals last term, finishing as the third-highest scoring player in the league.
Whilst survival for another season remains the first priority, you couldn’t blame Salernitana’s fans for hoping that an improved season is on the horizon, particularly after manager Paulo Sousa publicly said he was assured the squad “will be stronger than last year” by the end of the current transfer window. Better away performances certainly wouldn’t hurt their cause, for they won only twice on the road last SA term (D9, L8), although the 2-2 draw in May’s H2H away to Roma should inspire them to begin well.
Players to watch: All eyes will be on Andrea Belotti (106 SA goals) after, for the first time in his illustrious career, he failed to score a single SA goal last term. Veteran Antonio Candreva registered one of his two H2H goals the last time these teams met, which was one of his 11 goal SA contributions last term (G7, A4).
Hot streak: None of the last four H2Hs saw the home side on the day score before the break.