After a three-week break, Roma pick things back up with a trip to face Como on matchday six of the Serie A season.
Roma built some serious momentum in the first block of fixtures this season, but now will be forced to make at least a couple of tweaks to the formula against Como – and they’re significant ones.
Most concerningly of all, Mile Svilar has been ruled out for a few weeks with a toe injury, which will bring an end to his 95-game starting streak in Serie A. Pierluigi Gollini will take his place
for what will be his league debut in Roma colors, nearly two years after joining.
“Gollini is a goalkeeper who, in his career, has perhaps only played consistently with me,” Gian Piero Gasperini said at his press conference of his former Atalanta keeper. “I’ve reunited with him here at Roma after a bit of a stint with a few other teams. He’s definitely an excellent second goalkeeper. Now he has the opportunity to play consistently.
“When I had him at Atalanta, he even got called up to the national team, playing as third goalkeeper for a long time, at least for a couple of years. So he definitely has the ability and value. He’s always trained well in recent months and must have everyone’s trust, because we’re not fielding a goalkeeper who’s never played. He’s a guy who will now have the chance to show consistency.”
In addition, an injury to captain Bryan Cristante has been one of the main Roma talking points from the extended international break. Until now, only Svilar has amassed more minutes of gametime for Roma this season than their number four.
Love him or hate him, losing a player that Gasperini has been so content to build around is a blow for a Roma side looking to pick up from where they left off.
But as one of the squad’s leaders takes a backseat, another should return to contention. Lorenzo Pellegrini is yet to play this season after signing his contract extension in the summer, with injury keeping him on the sidelines. But not for much longer.
There are even some indications that Pellegrini could slot straight into the starting lineup against Como, leading the team out as captain on what would be his 350th appearance. But it wouldn’t be in Cristante’s place on the pitch; instead, he’d be playing on the left side of the attacking midfield pair behind the striker.
It’s the role that Roma drew most scrutiny for failing to reinforce in the summer. So far, they have had to adapt this season by switching up the responsibilities of Matías Soulé or Paulo Dybala, while also bedding in Rodrigo Mora.
Mora was the busiest Roma player during the international break while on duty with Portugal’s under-21s – and he made the most of it with an overhead kick goal – but understandably isn’t yet a nailed-on starter for his new club. And with Dybala and Soulé both more effective from the right – the former is the more likely starter for this assignment, for what it’s worth, due to the latter travelling back from Argentina this week with Santiago Castro and Leonardo Balerdi – it makes sense for Gasperini to lean back on the experience of Pellegrini on the left if he is up to speed.
“Before the break, I’d been on the bench twice, but I’d just come back and wasn’t ready yet,” Pellegrini said this week, at an event for the Premio Giuseppe Colalucci. “This break came at the perfect time, because I had the chance to train, push hard, and even test things out. I’m really happy and super pumped for this restart.”
As for the Cristante replacement, experience could be the order of the day again, with Maarten de Roon seemingly in pole position over Niccolò Pisilli to partner Manu Koné.
De Roon has only made appearances off the bench since reuniting with Gasperini at Roma, but had no national team commitments during the break and should have been able to get more in tune with his new surroundings at club level.
Roma’s other new absentee is Konstantinos Koulierakis, who should be able to return to the fold next week. It isn’t a major issue for Gasperini, who is yet to deploy the Greek international as a starter and has Evan Ndicka available again at the back after he missed the Inter game before the international break.
Any concerns about Donyell Malen’s availability have also been washed away, with Roma ready to rely on their talisman as usual.
Here’s how Roma could shape up on Sunday:
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Gollini; Mancini, Ndicka, Hermoso; Molina, De Roon, Koné, Wesley; Dybala, Pellegrini; Malen.
