De Rossi confirms Ndicka return against Napoli | OneFootball

Roma coach Daniele De Rossi has confirmed that Evan Ndicka will start against Napoli in Serie A on Sunday, which will be the Ivorian’s first appearance since he was taken ill against Udinese two weeks ago.

DDR took time out of his preparations to chat to Sky Sport Italia on Sunday, where he revealed that Ndicka will start alongside Gianluca Mancini at centre-back as the Giallorossi look to nullify the threat posed by Napoli talisman Victor Osimhen.

“Evan is fine, he trained and made it clear, importantly in his words, that he felt great. He is not afraid of challenges, of clashes, he is back and as a player he is at 100%,” De Rossi said on the eve of the trip to Naples.

He continued: “He and Mancio (Mancini) will have a great duel, because Osimhen is one of the strongest centre-forwards in the world. Without (Leandro) Paredes, we have to be ready to be without his strength.

De Rossi on Azmoun, Lukaku and Abraham

The Gialorossi coach also touched on his attacking options, and gave his thoughts on the recent partnerships between Sardar Azmoun, Romelu Lukaku and Tammy Abraham.

Under De Rossi, Roma have typically lined up with one centre-forward, but they had a brief experiment with Azmoun and Lukaku together, before the Belgian’s recent injury.

Then, against Udinese on Thursday, Azmoun and Abraham started together in an attempt to maximise the threat from crosses with only 20-ish minutes of action played.

“It was an interesting experiment,” De Rossi told Sky.

“The Lukaku-Azmoun experiment didn’t go very well in Frosinone, but it’s something that could be repeated if we want to bring height into the area, but once the game has started, there has to be a difference in our organisation to support the two attackers.

“It’s not like I get to try it for a 19-minute match, but we should be ready in the future.”