One week after the Europa League group stage finished, Roma are back in Thursday night action – this time in Serie A.
Roma host Torino in the only game of the midweek round to be held on Thursday. After every team above Roma, apart from Inter, dropped points in their midweek matches on either Tuesday or Wednesday, it’s a big opportunity to climb up the table.
A win would elevate Roma into the top four. Despite their good form, they have only finished a matchday in the top four twice so far this season.
There is every reason to believe they will be in those upper echelons after 12 games, though. They are hosting a Torino side who are joint-bottom of the Serie A table and have only won twice away from home in the entirety of 2020.
Roma, on the other hand, are on a 12-game unbeaten run at home. They have even kept clean sheets in five of their last six games at Stadio Olimpico. And after beating Bologna on their travels most recently, they are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time this month.
Paulo Fonseca is likely to field a similar lineup to the one that blew away Bologna. He has already confirmed that Pau Lopez will start successive games in Serie A for the first time this season.
Embed from Getty ImagesGianluca Mancini could make his 50th start for the club after recovering from injury. With Bryan Cristante suspended because of using a blasphemous expression after his own goal against Bologna, there is a space in defence for him to come into.
Fonseca was coy over whether Rick Karsdorp could start again after a number of impressive performances recently. However, he has tended to trust the Dutchman recently, giving him starts in every league game since November.
Further forward, Pedro will be available again after serving a suspension. However, Fonseca may use Lorenzo Pellegrini in a more advanced role again after his inspirational showing against Bologna.
With an important clash with Atalanta coming up at the weekend, Fonseca must get the balance right with his lineup to ensure positive results in both games.
Torino should be the easier obstacle, but they won this fixture last season. Before that, though, they had not won at Roma’s ground in Serie A since 2007.
Roma will be hoping to assert their dominance again and get a valuable three points.
The game kicks off at 7:45pm UK time and will be available to watch live on Premier Sports 1.
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