Nine points may separate Serie A's top two of Juventus and Roma, but a result either way on Monday could prove to be a vital moment of the season.

Juventus currently lead the way having suffered just one loss in the entire season so far, but Roma have had an impressive campaign of their own as they have not tasted defeat since November.

Rudi Garcia's side have failed to earn wins, having recorded eight draws in their last 11 fixtures in the top flight.

Clean sheets have also been hard to come by as they have kept just one, which was a goalless draw against troubled Parma, in seven games.

Juventus have had a couple of draws of their own, but they are on a winning run in all competitions with two victories to their name, the latest of which came in a 2-1 result over Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie on Tuesday evening.

Carlos Tevez is the club's highest goalscorer with 20 goals so far this season, and he appears to be back to full flow after scoring against their Bundesliga opponents in Europe earlier this week.

For Roma, their 2-1 triumph over Feyenoord in the Europa League on Thursday was marred by several suspensions due to objects being thrown onto the pitch, but Garcia will be hopeful that the disruptions will not hamper his team for Monday's game.

The last time these two sides met in October, three penalties, two red cards and a late goal dominated Juve's 3-2 victory, and the Old Lady edge the history books having won 77 of their last 161 meetings with Roma.

Juan Iturbe is likely to be in the squad after coming off the bench against Feyenoord following his recovery from ligament damage, but Maicon and Victor Ibarbo remain out of contention.

Massimiliano Allegri will be without Andrea Pirlo due to a calf injury that the Italian suffered against Dortmund, while Paul Pogba could also miss out with a thigh problem.

Stefano Sturaro could be installed in the starting XI as a result of Pogba's absence.

Roma:

Form in Serie A: DDDWDD
Form in all competitions: LWDDDW

Possible starting lineup: De Sanctis; Torosidis, Manolas, Astori, Holebas; Pjanic, Keita, Nainggolan; Gervinho, Totti, Ljajic

Juventus:

Form in Serie A: WWDWDW
Form in all competitions: WDWDWW

Possible starting lineup: Buffon; Caceres, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Sturaro, Marchisio, Vidal; Pereyra; Tevez, Morata

Sports Mole says: 1-1

Previews by email