Roma take on Crotone on Wednesday afternoon as part of a packed Serie A schedule on Epiphany.
All 20 Serie A teams are in action over the course of the day, which is a national holiday in Italy.
Roma’s game is one of seven that will get underway at 2pm UK time. It will be their first away match of 2021.
The New Year began in positive fashion for Roma with a win at home to Sampdoria at the weekend. Edin Dzeko made the difference in that 1-0 win, but will be unable to extend upon his run of scoring in three games in a row as he has a muscle strain.
Therefore, Borja Mayoral is likely to lead the line. Elsewhere, though, Paulo Fonseca – who has not travelled with the squad due to illness – will not make too many changes to his lineup.
In Fonseca’s absence, assistant manager Nuno Campos will oversee proceedings. The last time Campos stood in for Fonseca, Roma won 5-1 against Bologna.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnother victory by such a scoreline would be a dream scenario for a Roma side looking to improve their goal difference. However, they must think about the three points first and foremost.
Dzeko and Fonseca are not the only key figures Roma will have to navigate the tie without. Leonardo Spinazzola, Pedro, Federico Fazio, Davide Santon and Antonio Mirante all remain out.
The latter’s absence means Pau Lopez is likely to start successive games in Serie A for just the second time this season. He has never kept two clean sheets in a row in league games for Roma, but if he can do so on Wednesday, it would give his side a solid platform to build from.
Roma may take confidence from the fact that the last time Crotone were in Serie A – the 2017-18 season – they kept clean sheets in both games against them.
Many things have changed since then, but with Crotone bottom of the table and having conceded more goals than any other team in the league, it’s a big opportunity for Roma to build momentum ahead of trickier games against Inter and Lazio on the next two matchdays.
The game will be shown live in the UK on Premier Sports 2.
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