Roma vs Milan tips: Back goals at both ends in another Serie A thriller

Football tipster Sergiu Baltuta takes the lid off this historic fixture and expects there to be more thrills and spills to match last season’s dramatic encounters.

Date, Kick-off time and TV coverage

Serie A, Friday September 1, kick-off 19:45, live on TNT Sports 1

Suggested bets:

• Over 2.5 goals
• Both Teams to Score - Yes

Just one point from an opening 2-2 home draw with Salernitana is all that Roma have to show for their first two Serie A outings, while their visitors Milan join Napoli, Inter and Verona as the only teams to enter game week three boasting a 100% record.
 
But the fans from Stadio Olimpico have reasons to be optimistic, with The Special One Jose Mourinho returning to the bench after a 10-day suspension, which coincides with the news that the Giallorossi have managed to sign Romelu Lukaku on loan from Chelsea.
 
The Belgian striker was received with enthusiasm by Roma’s fans, and he could make his debut on Friday night, especially with Paulo Dybala injured.
 
Following that opening defeat, The Red and Yellow suffered a 2-1 defeat at Verona, which means that the team from the capital has only one win in the last eight competitive games, which was a 2-1 win against Spezia at the back end of last season.
 
What’s almost certain on Friday is that we should be in for another open game, as both teams have found the net in each of their last six games. It’s also worth mentioning that Roma’s last defeat at home in Serie A, was against a team from Milan, 0-2 against Internazionale in May.
 
On the other side, the team led by Stefano Pioli enjoyed a flying start to the new campaign, managing a 2-0 win at Bologna first up, thanks to early goals from Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic.
 
They followed that up with a decisive 4-1 home success against Torino, with Pulisic and Giroud once again in excellent form. The American, who arrived this summer from Chelsea, scored for the second consecutive game, while the French striker helped himself to a double.

Going back to last season, the Rossoneri now have five consecutive Serie A wins under their belt, and have lost only two of their last eight away games in all competitions.
 
Last season these two teams produced plenty of late drama, kicking off in Milan, where the visitors managed to come back from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw, thanks to goals scored after 87 and 90+3 minutes.

Then at Olimpico in April, it was 1-1: Tammy Abraham scored what seemed like the winning goal in the 90+4th minute, only for Alexis Saelemaekers to grab a dramatic equaliser three minutes later.

With those memories fresh in the mind, there's unlikely to be many empty seats in the closing stages on Friday night.

Sergiu Baltuta provides football tips as SVB Tips on Tipstrr