“My idea is to use more of the squad, to rotate and have more options. That leads to me to test out important things in games. At this stage there’s a core group of players that is very solid and performing
well, but it’s also true that sooner or later we need to try and have more confidence in other players so that we can deal with all the games we have to play.”
Those were the words of Gian Piero Gasperini during his pre-match press conference ahead of Wednesday’s Europa League opener in France against Nice. Even prior to Gasperini’s indication that we’ll see some rotation, it was expected that the Giallorossi would have a few different starters than Sunday’s Derby della Capitale victory.
Where we won’t see any changes is in defense, where the same trio of Zeki Çelik, Gianluca Mancini, and Evan Ndicka are expected to start again in front of Mile Svilar. However, we should see some fresh legs at the wing-back positions. Wesley is healthy after missing the Derby with gastrointestinal issues. Meanwhile, Kostas Tsimikas is expected to make his first Roma start. Gasperini spoke about him in his presser.
“I don’t get a headache thinking about the qualities of these two players. We have 23 players and it’s normal to rotate them. It’s not just for those two – as I said before, we need to try and expand the squad as much as we can because you can’t play 60 games with the same players. Angeliño is not coming up short. And neither is Tsimikas. They play a similar way and they’re not really suited for other positions. That’s why they’ll both play at different times, but not because either is lacking anything.”
In this midfield, it’s expected that Neil El Ayanoui will replace Bryan Cristante alongside Manu Koné. Meanwhile, Sunday’s hero, Lorenzo Pellegrini, is again anticipated to pair with Matías Soulé. Gasperini spoke on Pellgrini.
“I think he’s capable of playing tomorrow. They can all play again after three days. Obviously he’s come from a long spell when he wasn’t playing. The match we played the other day may have had a bigger impact but I don’t think it’s a problem to play back-to-back games. The only problem could be that playing too often in this period could increase the risk of injury. It’s important to go into the match in good physical shape.”
Rounding out the XI will be Artem Dovbyk who is expected to start ahead of Evan Ferguson, even though Gasperini decided to play coy.
“Yes, Dovbyk or [Evan] Ferguson. They both looked very good in the last training session. They’re alternatives.”
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Ndicka, Mancini, Çelik; Wesley, El Ayanoui, Koné, Tsimiaks; Soulé, Pellegrini; Dovbyk.
