“What does ‘rest’ mean? For what reason? We’ll rest tonight. Tomorrow when we play, we won’t rest. I find it hard to understand this idea of resting…
“No, that’s another matter. If you’re talking about
rotating – or playing some other players – then that’s different. But resting… You rest at home. As for who will play, we’ll see. [Paulo] Dybala definitely won’t play. [Leon] Bailey definitely won’t play. We have 17 or 18 outfield players. We’ve brought [Alessandro] Romano with us too. We have lots…”
That’s how Gasperini responded when asked about rest and rotating his line-up ahead of the trip to Glasgow to face Rangers in the Europa League on Thursday. With Dybala and Bailey joining the previously injured Evan Ferguson on the sidelines, Gasperini may have to get a bit creative in attack. That likely means moving away from the false 9 look we’ve seen in recent matches and a return to the XI for Artem Dovbyk—who Gasperini was asked about.
“He’s fine. Fortunately he’s not one of those injured. He’s available but there’s never a single decisive moment. Every moment is important. Right now it’s important for tomorrow in the Europa League.”
Another change that we could see is Neil El Aynaoui playing further up the pitch like he did earlier in the season. Gasperini admitted it’s a possibility, even though it’s not his preferred role for the Moroccan.
“Maybe. At the moment we’re a bit short on numbers. I like it when he plays 20 metres further back but he could play further forward.”
Although El Aynaoui in support of Dovbyk is a possibility, it’s more likely we see Matías Soulé and Lorenzo Pellegrini behind the Ukranian.
It looks like it’ll be no rest for the omnipresent Bryan Cristante and his usual midfield running mate—Manu Koné. On the left, Kostas Tsimikas should also return to the starting XI in place of the still injured Angeliño. Wesley should start on the right. That would allow Zeki Çelik to return to center back with Mancini and Ndicka.
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Mancini, N’Dicka, Çelik; Wesley, Cristante, Koné, Tsimikas; Pellegrini, Soulé; Dovbyk.
