On Thursday against Brighton, Daniele De Rossi took full advantage of Roma’s 4-0 aggregate lead over Roma’s English hosts by rotating quite a few members of his starting XI. Regular starters like Romelu Lukaku, Paulo Dybala, Stephan El Shaarawy, and Leandro Paredes were held out of the starting line-up in favor of Sadar Azmoun, Tommaso Baldanzi, Nicola Zalewski, and Edoardo Bove.
Lukaku didn’t make the trip to Brighton due to injury. However, the Belgian hitman has been ruled fit enough to feature against Sassuolo on Sunday, though Dybala is set to miss the next 10-14 days with a minor muscle issue. This will see him miss out on this match and an Argentina call-up, which may not be the worst thing in the world from a Roma perspective.
Lukaku is expected to return to the starting lineup to lead the attacking trident, which will also see Stephan El Shaarawy return to its ranks. Meanwhile, with Dybala out, Houssem Aouar is expected to get his second consecutive league start. After spelling Lorenzo Pellegrini at the mezz’ala position against Fiorentina, Aour is expected to play on the right of the attacking trident.
The midfield will see a rested Leandro Paredes return to the regista position. That will shift Bryan Cristante back to mezz’ala along with Pellegrini. Also expected to return to the starting XI are Rick Karsdorp and Angeliño, who will replace Leo Spinazzola and Zeki Çelik at the full-back positions. The starting XI will be rounded out by Mile Svilar and the preferred center-back duo of Gianluca Mancini and Evan Ndicka.
ROMA (4-3-3): Svilar; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ndicka, Angeliño; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Aouar, Lukaku, El Shaarawy.