RomaPress
·1 March 2024
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·1 March 2024
Roma aim to continue their strong run of form under Daniele De Rossi as they travel to Lombardia to face Monza in Matchday 27 of Serie A.
The match offers the Giallorossi a chance to gain ground in the race for the fourth and final Champions League place due fifth-placed Atalanta hosting fourth-placed Bologna on Sunday evening.
However, it’ll be far from easy as Raffaele Palladino’s men are unbeaten in five matches, and have proven difficult to beat at home. In their latest home fixture, the Biancorossi earned their first-ever win over Milan, stunning the Rossoneri by a 4-2 scoreline.
Kick-off is scheduled for 18.00 CET on Saturday evening at the Stadio Brianteo.
Roma’s turnaround under Daniele De Rossi continued this week when they defeated Torino 3-2 on Monday—marking their sixth win in eight games under the former midfielder.
De Rossi is expected to make some changes from Monday’s win given their midweek Europa League fixture versus Brighton, including resting veteran defender Chris Smalling. The Englishman returned to the starting lineup for the first time since September but he’s unlikely to be risked against the Biancorossi—with Gianluca Mancini and Evan Ndicka the likely central defender pairing.
Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku will certainly be back from the first whistle since he started on the bench against the Granata. De Rossi is also favored to utilise preferred midfield trio of Bryan Cristante, Leandro Paredes, and Lorenzo Pellegrini.
Like the visitors, hosts Monza enter Saturday’s affair in strong form.
The Biancorossi are coming off back-to-back wins over Milan and Salernitana, respectively—hoping to solidify their mid-table position. They’re currently 11th in the table and well-above the relegation zone: sixteen points ahead of 18th-placed Sassuolo. Though, they’ve only collected 1 point in their three matches against Roma since their promotion to Serie A in 2022.
As for his team, Raffaele Palladino isn’t expected to overhaul his team from last weekend’s 2-0 victory over Salernitana. Defender Armando Izzo misses out against Roma due to suspension, expected to be replaced by ex-Inter man Roberto Gagliardini.
MONZA (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; Birindelli, D’Ambrosio, Pablo Marí, A. Carboni; Gagliardini, Pessina; V. Carboni, Colpani, Dany Mota; Djuric
Unavailable: Gianluca Caprari, Samuele Vignato, Armando Izzo, Alejandro Gomez, Patrick Ciurria
ROMA (4-3-2-1): Svilar; Kristensen, Mancini, Ndicka, Angelino; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, El Shaarawy; Lukaku
Unavailable: Tammy Abraham, Rick Karsdorp