The international break is finally over, which means it’s time for Daniele De Rossi’s Roma to gear up for the home stretch of the season. Thanks to the Easter holiday, the Giallorossi were afforded a couple of extra days rest before kicking off the last leg of the season in Puglia on Monday against Lecce.
And those extra days of respite seem to have done Roma’s injured players some good, as Paulo Dybala, Chris Smalling, and Renato Sanches all re-entered full group training over the last handful of days. Meanwhile, Italian youngsters Edoardo Bove and Tommaso Baldanzi have also recovered from the minor knocks that saw them return early from Italy U-20 duty. And Evan Ndicka, who skipped Ivory Coast duty, is also back to full fitness.
On Saturday, De Rossi spoke to Roma TV about the availability of Dybala and Tammy Abraham.
“We’ll evaluate Dybala tomorrow. He did more intense training alone, yesterday he did it without the ball, today he trained with us, but it was a mild training. Tomorrow we will understand how he is and understand whether to take him with us or not. We will see whether he will play or start on the bench.”
“Abraham? Tammy cannot play on Monday. He’s suffered some delays in his recovery and still needs two more weeks to be ready.”
In addition to Abraham, the other players certain to miss out on this one are Lorenzo Pellegrini, who is suspended, as well as Leo Spinazzola, Rasmus Kristensen, and Sadar Azmoun through injury.
With that in mind, most of the line-up should be set before Roma heads to Lecce to face the Salentini at the Via del Mare. In the back, Angeliño, Ndicka, Gianluca Mancini, and Rick Karsdorp will make up the back line in front of Mile Svilar’s goal. With Pellegrini suspended, Houssem Aouar is expected to take his place in the midfield. He’ll be part of the midfield trio with Bryan Cristante and Leandro Paredes.
Romelu Lukaku will lead Roma’s attack, and Stephan El Shaarawy will also be part of the attacking trident. At the time of writing this late on Saturday, the only question mark in the XI revolves around whether or not Dybala is fit enough to play. If he travels with the team, then pencil him in. If he doesn’t, then it’ll be Baldazni.
ROMA (4-3-3): Svilar; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ndicka, Angeliño; Cristante, Paredes, Aouar; Dybala/Baldanzi, Lukaku, El Shaarawy.