Saturday 5th November 2011, 7.45pm GMT (live on Setanta IRL)
Siena have managed just a single win from nine games since they returned to the top flight this season. The game in question was a memorable 3-1 defeat of Inter on the occasion of their first home game.
Their visitors tomorrow have lost three of their last four games, and Roma will be desperate to get back to winning ways at Novara. Luis Enrique’s side occupy 13th place in the table, five places above their opponents. Captain Francesco Totti is still unavailable due to injury, but playmaker Miralem Pjanic recovered ahead of last week’s defeat against Milan, and he will accompany Bojan and Daniel Osvaldo in Roma’s three-pronged attack tomorrow. Novara welcome defender Massimo Paci back from injury.
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| Bojan - one of Enrique's hopefuls at new-look Roma |
As mentioned last week, Roma’s Spanish coach is still struggling to impress his style of play upon his team on a consistent basis. The Giallorossi have started to score goals, but they have also conceded five in their last two games. Novara play on an artificial surface, which can be a hindrance to visiting sides, but despite this advantage I like the odds on an away win tomorrow. The quality of players available to the Roma coach is simply far superior to that in the Novara squad, and I expect Enrique’s men to prevail.
Prediction – Roma to win – 4pts
Match odds: Novara 13/5
Draw 23/10
Roma evens
