Roma vs. Sassuolo: Preview & Predicted Lineups | OneFootball

Following their midweek progression into the Europa League quarterfinals, Roma are back in league action on Sunday evening when they host struggling Sassuolo at the Stadio Olimpico.

The two sides enter the clash on completely opposite ends of the table—the Giallorossi pushing for a top four finish while the Neroverdi eye an upset in the heated race to avoid relegation.

Kick-off is scheduled for 18.00 CET on Sunday evening at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma

The Giallorossi’s resurgence under the stewardship of manager Daniele De Rossi continued this week—their latest success coming Thursday as they ousted Brighton and advanced to the Europa League quarterfinals.

With their focus back on Serie A, Roma face another must-win Sunday after Bologna secured a last-gasp victory over Empoli in extra time. The victory temporarily gave the Rossoblu a six-point advantage on the capital club.

De Rossi also faces a few selection dilemmas for the game, primarily in attack, Star attacker Paulo Dybala suffered a minor muscle strain during Friday’s training session and won’t be available for 10-14 days. In addition, Romelu Lukaku is a major question mark due to an ongoing hip strain that kept him out of Thursday’s return leg against Brighton. Though, he participated in the Giallorossi’s final training session before the game.

Sassuolo

Sitting 19th in the table, Sassuolo and new manager Davide Ballardini have their work cut out when they travel to the Italian capital.

The Neroverdi have struggled away from home this season and enter with eight defeats in their previous ten road games. Even worse, they haven’t earn an away result in nearly three months—their last point coming in mid-December in a 1-1 draw against Udinese. Though, there’s some reason for optimism after Ballardini steadied the team’s struggling defence and guided the team to their first win in over two months last week—defeating Frosinone at home.

Given Domenico Berardi’s absence for the rest of the season, Sassuolo will rely heavily on striker Andrea Pinamonti to carry their attack. The 24 year-old has netted five goals against Roma in Serie A, surpassing his tally against any other club by two goals. He’s also only one goal away from reaching double figures in league goals this season.

Predicted Lineups

ROMA (4-3-2-1): Svilar; Karsdorp, Mancini, Llorente, Angeliño; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Baldanzi, El Shaarawy; Lukaku

Unavailable: Tammy Abraham, Chris Smalling, Renato Sanches, Rasmus Kristensen

SASSUOLO (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Missori, Erlic, Ferrari, Pedersen; Racic, Matheus Henrique; Bajrami, Defrel, Laurienté; Pinamonti

Unavailable: Domenico Berardi, Josh Doig, Kristian Thorstvedt, Jeremy Toljan