AS Roma will welcome Torino at the Stadio Olimpico in Serie A on Monday night.
After sacking Jose Mourinho, the Giallorossi decided to appoint Daniele De Rossi as their new manager. They have enjoyed a promising start under the 40-year-old’s guidance, winning five and losing only one out of seven games in all competitions.
Roma are currently sixth in the table with 41 points from 25 games, sitting only five points behind the fourth-placed Atalanta – who have a game in hand. So, the Giallorossi are still in the race to finish in the top-four and qualify for the Champions League next season.
On the other hand, Torino are in mid-table at the moment with 36 points from 25 games. They are currently unbeaten in their last six league games so it won’t be an easy task for Roma to beat Toro in this encounter.
Torino have been excellent defensively this season, conceding 22 goals in 25 games. Inter Milan and Juventus have conceded less than them so far. However, they have struggled with scoring goals as only the bottom side Salernitana have scored less than them.
Previous meetings
Roma had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. However, the side from the Italian capital have been unbeaten over the last five league games against Torino. So, the visitors will be hoping to defeat the Giallorossi in this fixture and rectify their record.
How to watch
The game will kick off at 5:30 pm UK time and the match will be televised live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.
Match going fans can buy AS Roma vs Torino tickets through the official club channels and via trusted resellers such as seatsnet.com.
Team news
Roma have been without their star striker Tammy Abraham due to a serious injury and he is expected to remain sidelined until the end of this season. So, he isn’t in contention to feature in this fixture. In addition, Chris Smalling was sidelined over the last few months due to an Injury problem but he returned to action last weekend against Frosinone, though he might not be ready to start yet.
Diego Llorente sustained an injury in the midweek encounter against Feyenoord so he is in doubt ahead of this fixture. If he can’t recover in time then Evan Ndicka could commence in place of the Spaniard. Paulo Dybala and Stephen El Shaarawy also picked up an injury last time out so there are question marks about their availability as well.
As for Torino, they will be without their key defender Perr Schuurs as he sustained a serious knee issue earlier this season and as a result, his season is all but over. In addition, Alessandro Buongiorno, Ricardo Rodriguez and Mergim Vojvoda are also likely to be unavailable for selection in this encounter.
Prediction
Rossi is likely to go with the 4-3-3 formation with Rui Patricio likely to be in goal for the hosts. Gianluca Mancini and Diego Llorente might be the centre-back pairing, while Rasmus Kristensen and Leonardo Spinazzola should be in the fullback position.
Leandro Paredes is expected to be in the deep-lying playmaker position with Edoardo Bove and Lorenzo Pellegrini likely to complete the midfield trio.
Paulo Dybala should be in the right-wing position, while Stephan El Shaarawy might be deployed on the opposite side. Romelu Lukaku is set to continue in the number nine role for Roma.
Expected Roma line-up vs Torino
Patricio; Kristensen, Mancini, Llorente, Spinazzola; Paredes, Bove, Pellegrini; El Shaarawy, Lukaku, Dybala
As for Torino, Ivan Juric usually deploys a three-back system and it’s unlikely to be anything different on Monday. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic should be in goal for the visitors with Koffi Djidji, Matteo Lovato and Adam Masina expected to be the back three. Raoul Bellanova and Valentino Lazaro might be the wing-backs for Torino.
Ivan Ilic and Karol Linetty are likely to be the midfield pairing, pushing Samuele Ricci in the number ten position. Duvan Zapata and Antonio Sanabria could lead the line for Juric’s side.
Expected Torino line-up vs Roma
Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Lovato, Masina; Bellanova, Linetty, Ilic, Lazaro; Ricci, Zapata, Sanabria
Key players
Lukaku was signed on a loan deal from Chelsea to lead the line amid Abraham’s absence this term. But, he hasn’t had a great campaign so far and in addition, he failed to convert a penalty during the shootout in the last game.
But thankfully, that didn’t make any impact as Roma eventually managed to book their tickets for the round of 16 of the Europa League. Lukaku will be desperate to return to scoring ways against Torino and help his side come away with all three points.
Dybala is Roma’s talismanic figure as he is their main creative player and also a goal-scorer. So, the Argentinian will be hoping that he will be able to help his side win this game by performing at his best.
Pellegrini is the club captain and the onus will be on him to take the ball from the back and feed it to the front three. The Italian is also deadly from the set-pieces so Torino will have to avoid giving away fouls in dangerous positions.
As for Torino, Zapata has been in fine form after joining Juric’s side last term. So, the visitors will be hoping that the Colombian will be able to help his side come away with a positive result from this fixture by putting his name on the score-sheet.
The responsibility will be on Bellanova and Lazaro to stretch the opposition backline with their pace to create gaps between the lines for the attacking players to exploit.
Roma are expected to play positional football and the visitors are expected to sit back and hurt the Giallorossi on the counter-attack. So, Torino’s backline and the goalkeeper will have to be at the top of their game to keep the opposite attack at bay.
Prediction
Roma have been enjoying the new manager bounce and they have been playing a more expansive brand of football under Rossi than they were playing under Mourinho. They have been in fine form in front of the goal and they will be hoping to continue the momentum in this fixture as well.
However, Tonio are a hard team to play against and therefore, it won’t be easy for the hosts to come away with all three points from this fixture. However, Roma are definitely the favourites but considering they played in midweek and it went all the way to the penalties, they could become tired in the second half.
Therefore, Roma will ideally be looking to wrap up the game in the first half. However, it is going to be interesting to see how the game eventually unfolds on Monday. Roma 3-1 Torino
