Roma returns to action on Monday Night Football against Udinese, and we should see plenty of turnover from Thursday’s 1-1 draw in Greece, where Roma played down a man for most of the match. That draw was
a vital result in Roma’s overall scheduling situation, as the Europa League bye will mean no Thursday night matches for the whole month of February. Having two fewer matches this month could be huge for a side dealing with a number of injuries and trying to solidify a top 4 place in the league table.
Gian Piero Gasperini won’t hold a pre-match presser ahead of the trip to Udine, so we won’t have any indication of where he’s leaning with his lineup. However, we do know there will be a large number of absences for this one. Gasperini will be without several attacking options, as Paulo Dybala, Evan Ferguson, Artem Dovbyk, and Stephan El Shaarawy are all dealing with ailments. Meanwhile, Manu Koné remains out. Mario Hermoso returned to training and could make the bench for this one.
With Dybala out, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Matías Soulé will be relied upon to provide service for Donyell Malen. Those two played in a false 9 look on Thursday due to the unavailability of all of Roma’s strikers against Panathinaikos. But, with Malen now available, they’ll drop into their more traditional attacking midfield roles while the former Villa man leads the line.
Meanwhile, with Hermoso unlikely to start, the back three should be composed of Gianluca Mancini, Evan Ndicka, and Daniele Ghilardi. With those three playing along the back, Zeki Çelik will continue to play at right wing back, while Wesley continues to man the left.
The one question mark heading into this one is in the central midfield. Bryan Cristante looks to be a lock to start, but there is debate as to whether Neil El Aynaoui or Niccoló Pisilli will playing alongside him. Currently, it appears as if the Moroccan has a slight edge over the Italian.
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Ghilardi; Çelik, Cristante, El Aynaoui, Wesley; Pellegrini, Soulé; Malen.
