“Right now I don’t even know who will be available, so I need to see that first. Then we’ll see what we decide. Pellegrini has played a lot, right? So those are the options. We’ll see. First we need to figure out what shape we’re in. We’ll train today and then we’ll decide. But Dybala has become important too.”
Those were Gian Piero Gasperini’s words ahead of Sunday’s massive encounter at the Maradona against Napoli. Win and Roma move into third place—leapfrogging Juve and gaining the edge over the Partenopei on goal differential. Lose, and the Giallorossi will remain winless against fellow top 4 rivals. In such a massive match, any manager would want his best XI available.
Unfortunately for Gasperini, he will be without Manu Koné, Evan Ferguson, Stephan El Shaarawy, and Artem Dovbyk. However, he does recover Robinio Vaz. Meanwhile, two of his main creative forces—Matías Soulé and Paulo Dybala—remain in doubt.
“We need to have a look at them today. This week has been a bit more difficult for Soule so we need to see. We’ll decide this afternoon. It’s the same for Dybala. He’s been training regularly but he’s not 100% either. Everyone wants to be fit and well.”
Soulé appears more prepared for this match than Dybala and is expected to start. If he cannot, Bryan Zaragoza will likely start in his place. Lorenzo Pellegrini is anticipated to begin in the other attacking midfield role, supporting Donyell Malen.
In the center of the pitch, Niccoló Pisilli is expected to start again alongside Bryan Cristante. He appears to have a slight edge over Neil El Ayanoui. Those two will again be flanked by Wesley on the left and Zeki Çelik on the right. Meanwhile, in defense, Daniele Ghilardi again looks to have the leg up on Mario Hermoso to complete the back three with Gianluca Mancini and Evan Ndicka.
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Ghilardi; Çelik, Cristante, Pisilli, Wesley; Soulé, Pellegrini; Malen.