Barcelona vs AS Roma
Barcelona and Roma will meet once again after three months, this time in ICC 2018, and both sides have matters to settle against each other.
Certainly, there are plenty of ill-feelings between these two European giants, not only because of their Champions League meeting last April but also due to the recent events this summer transfer window—something so heated that Roma’s top brass even threatened to take legal action against the Catalan powerhouse.
The SBOBET football offers point to a tight affair, and that might just be the case with how things are shaping up heading to their battle at AT&T Stadium in Texas.
Talking Points
For Roma, this is all about one man: Malcom.
The ex-Bordeaux player, who can play as a winger or attacking midfielder, was due to sign with Roma after the club reached a deal to secure his services from his French club. The team, in fact, has already announced the agreement to sign the 21-year-old pending a medical.
However, in a surprising turn of events, Barcelona matched Roma’s offer and convinced the wideman that he had better opportunities at Camp Nou, alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. And besides, who could ever say no to Barcelona?
According to reports, Barca have since apologised for the way they signed Malcom, but Roma chief James Pallotta was having none of it and accused the reigning La Liga champions of acting “unethically and immorally.”
Sure enough, that off-pitch issue will transcend to Eusebio Di Francesco and his lads when they play Barcelona.
They lost their opening game in the tournament by a huge margin, but they have top-quality players who can make a difference in this game. And with the motivation of getting back at Barca, who knows what they can achieve?
Barcelona, on the other hand, won’t forget the heartbreak Roma gave them in the 2017/18 Champions League quarter-finals. The Romans denied the Catalans a spot in the semis, fighting back from a 1-4 first-leg deficit to send Barca out of the competition.
Messi, Suarez and Coutinho won’t be with the team, so a win against Roma—with virtually a lineup of Barca B players—will give them a boost in confidence and will erase some of the pain the Italians gave them.
Roma also have the likes of Edin Dzeko, Daniele De Rossi and Kostas Manolas at their disposal for the game. The three players were all on target against Barcelona in the second leg of their UCL fixture, giving the Catalans more reason to come out and play with purpose in this ICC match-up.
There’s also no better way for Ernesto Valverde’s men to prove to Malcom that he made the right choice by beating a full-strength Roma side.
It remains to be seen what tactics each team will deploy, but it’s not wrong to expect both clubs to eye for the win and produce an exciting and highly physical game.
History
In their five meetings over the past three years, Barcelona came out on top three times while Roma won once and drew the other. As mentioned above, Roma’s only victory came in the UCL, with Barca dominating their match-ups by an average of three goals per game.
Barcelona are also coming off a nice win over Tottenham Hotspur, leading 2-0 in the first half behind a performance that was unarguably one of the top ICC 2018 highlights. The game ended in a shoot-out after a slew of changes in the second half, but Barcelona showed enough depth even without their big-name stars.
Meanwhile, Roma received a 4-1 thrashing from Tottenham in their ICC opener. The contest was over for the Giallorossi by halftime after conceding four goals in the opening 45 minutes.
They fielded Dzeko and De Rossi in the second, but it was too late as Tottenham held on to their lead to fend off the Champions League semi-finalists.
What are the odds?
Roma have more first-team players with them so it’s only fitting they are favoured to win against Barca in ICC 2018 betting. Our 1X2 odds have the Serie A side at 2.13 while Barca are at 3.00 and the draw a little bit far-off at 3.60.
Asian Handicap betting odds, nonetheless, suggest a close game. Barca are tipped with +0.25 @ 1.98, with Roma at 1.94 for the -0.25 handicap.
There could be plenty of goals in the game though. Total Goal 2-3 pays out at 2.03 while Total Goal 4-6 isn’t far-fetched as well at odds of 2.36.
Furthermore, Over 3.00 is at 1.81 and Over 3.25 gives good odds at 2.04.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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