Roma host Genoa at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday afternoon looking to get their season back on track after a run of poor results.
Both sides were eliminated from the Coppa Italia by lower league opposition during the week and both have seen their Serie A form tail off after promising starts. The Giallorossi are without a win in their last four matches, a run stretching back to early November, while Genoa have won just once in eight games, losing four of those contests.
Neither of the two teams were able to score last weekend, though Roma hinted at a return to form in a 0-0 draw at Napoli. Meanwhile, Gian Piero Gasperini’s Rossoblu looked set for the same result against Bologna only to concede an injury time goal to lose 1-0.
This will be the 97th clash between these two sides, with Roma having won 42 of those games, their dominance particularly prevalent at on their own turf. It is 21 years since the Grifone returned from Rome with as much as a point, their last victory coming in 1990, Carlos Aguilera scoring the only goal of the game.
That is one of just seven Genoa wins at Roma, with the hosts having triumphed on 35 occasions of the 48 to date, including the last nine. Indeed, since the Grifone’s return to Serie A in 2007, they have lost on every visit to the Giallorossi.
Under fire Rudi Garcia has received some good news this week as he should be able to call upon the twin threat of Gervinho and Mohamed Salah for the first time since the derby win against Lazio, though Francesco Totti is unlikely to be fit in time. The veteran will be joined on the sidelines by Vasilis Torosidis.
Gasperini’s problems have come not single spies but in battalions, as both Diego Perotti and Leonardo Pavoletti will be suspended for the match. They are added to a list of absentees that includes Nicolas Burdisso, Blerim Dzemaili and Giovanni Marchese who are all injured, so there is likely to be an unfamiliar look to the Genoa side. Pavoletti is a particularly important absentee, as the Rossoblu are yet to win without the striker this season.
Form Guide: Roma (W-D-L-D-D), Genoa (D-W-L-L-L)
Expected Starting XIs
Roma: Szczesny; Digne, Manolas, Rudiger, Florenzi; Pjanic, De Rossi, Nainggolan; Gervinho, Dzeko, Salah.
Genoa: Perin; Isso, De Maio, Ansaldi; Rincon, Tino Costa, Tachtsidis, Laxalt; Gakpe, Pandev, Ntcham.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com