Roma travels to Sweden today to take on Elfsborg in the second round of the redesigned Europa League league stage. And the Giallorossi can likely afford to get no less than three points against one of the weaker sides of the eight that they’ll play in this stage of the competition. So, Ivan Jurić will be tasked with putting out a strong starting eleven while also trying to rest some of his regulars who have already played 3 three matches over 10 days.
However, Jurić will likely be wary to not opt for wholesale changes. After all, we all remember the last time that Roma traveled to Scandinavia to play on a synthetic pitch and rotated almost the full squad.
Jurić didn’t discuss his line-up too much in his pre-match presser but was asked specifically about three players: Mats Hummels, Angeliño, and Artem Dovbyk.
“We’ve still got to make a decision on Hummels. He’s our newest squad member. He needs to get into the right shape to play. Being a defender is a tricky job – you’ve got to be ready and make no mistakes. As for Angeliño, he’s quick at recovering. He’s doing great so far. Regarding Artem, he looked a bit leggy last time out. We’ve got to decide whether to start him or bring him on as a sub.”
The answer on Hummels leads one to believe that we won’t see the German from the opening whistle again. That means the back three will likely be composed of Gianluca Mancini, Mario Hermoso, and Evan Ndicka. That being said, there is a chance that Mancini could be rested with either Zeki Çelik or Angliño dropping into the back three.
The central midfield pairing looks like it will consist of Niccolò Pisilli and Leandro Paredes after the duo played a key role off the bench on Sunday to combine for the winning goal. Flanking them will be Çelik and Angeliño. But, if one of them slides into the back three, then Stephan El Shaarawy will be in line for a start.
In an attack, it looks like Eldor Shomurodov is in line for his first start of the season. Shomurodov has played just nine minutes under Jurić so far and will look to make the most of his first real opportunity under his new manager. In support of him, it appears as if Paulo Dybala will be rested again with the all-Italian duo of Tommaso Baldanzi and Lorenzo Pellegrini getting the nod over Matías Soulé.
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Hermoso, Ndicka, Mancini; Angeliño, Pissili, Paredes, Celik; Pellegrini, Baldanzi; Shomurodov.
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