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Como, Italy - March 15: Devyne Rensch of AS Roma looks on during the Serie A match between Como 1907 and AS Roma at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia on March 15, 2026 in Como, Italy. (Photo by sportinfoto/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images) | DeFodi Images via Getty Images
Roma has one more opportunity to right the ship before the national team players depart for the international break. Since blowing a two-goal lead against Juventus in the final moments a few matches ago, the Giallorossi have been on a downward spiral. Roma is now winless in five, which has caused Gasperini’s side to drop to sixth in the domestic stable and crash out of Europe at the hands of Italian rivals Bologna.
With the Europa League campaign now done and dusted, Roma’s only route back to the Champions League runs through Serie A. After the last three weekends and eight dropped points, including five to direct rivals Juve and Como, that path now looks like a steep uphill climb. However, with Juve dropping two points at home against Sassuolo on Saturday, there’s a chance for the Giallorossi to at least pull even with the Bianconeri.
When Roma hosts ex-manager Eusebio Di Francesco and Lecce at the Olimpico on Sunday, Gasperini will be without many of his key players. The attack will continue to be short-handed, with Paulo Dybala, Matías Soulé, Evan Ferguson, and Artem Dovbyk all remaining sidelined. Meanwhile, the midfield suffered a big blow when Manu Koné was injured on Thursday — the Frenchman is expected to miss about a month of action. Additionally, Wesley will be suspended for this match after his red card against Como.
With so many key men out through injury and suspension and a large number of the regulars coming off of a 120-minute match on Thursday, we should see a handful of changes as Gasperini triesto field a strong XI while adding some freshness. In the back, the likely change is Daniele Ghilardi entering the fray in place of Mario Hermoso.
There will have to be changes on the left wing and in central midfield, where Kostas Tsimikas will likely be theWesley fill-in. Meanwhile, Niccoló Pisilli or Neil El Aynaoui could slot into the central midfield alongside Bryan Cristante. There are also some rumblings that Zeki Çelik may not be ready to start after logging big minutes on Thursday, which would open up a spot for Devyne Rensch. If Çelik is good to go, then Rensch likely starts on the left over Tsimikas.
In attack, Lorenzo Pellegrini looks to start after a strong performance off the bench against Bologna, where he supplied a goal and an assist as he tried to will his club to victory after falling behind 3-1. The other spot behind Donyell Malen is where we see the most variability among publications with all three of Stephan El Shaarawy, Bryan Zaragoza, and Lorenzo Venturino being mentioned. We’re leaning toward one of the youngsters to give Gasperini an experienced option off the bench in the second half in El Shaarawy.
ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Ghilardi; Rensch, Cristante, Pisilli, Tsimikas; Pellegrini, Zaragoza; Malen.
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