Hellas Veronavs.Roma

The Giallorossi had lost three of five games prior to edging out Torino, while Hellas had an even worse run of form, sending them spiralling down the standings.

Match preview

Beaten by Inter Milan, then thumped 5-1 by Fiorentina last weekend, Roma had slumped into the bottom half of Serie A before kicking off Thursday's home game versus Torino.

That prompted speculation about the future of recently appointed boss Ivan Juric, who was in need of maximum points against his old club at Stadio Olimpico.

With just one win from three games in the Europa League, the capital club have been below par on the continental scene too, and Juric admitted there had been dressing-room unrest following that heavy defeat in Florence.

Missing star striker Artem Dovbyk due to illness, the ex-Torino coach asked Paulo Dybala to operate as a false nine, and the Giallorossi's mercurial maestro rewarded his manager's faith by scoring the winning goal from an improbable angle.

For a couple of days at least, that lifted Roma back into the top half, albeit still 12 points adrift of first place and six behind in-form rivals Lazio.

Despite bringing in Dovbyk and several others this summer, the Eternal City side still average just one goal per game in Serie A; however, they may expect to improve that rate on Sunday, given their hosts' recent woes.

While Verona's last top-flight away win over Roma came more than 50 years ago, after a 2-1 victory in August last year they have won two of the clubs' last three meetings at the Bentegodi.

However, the Gialloblu come into this week's contest following three straight defeats for the loss of 10 goals, leaving them with the worst defensive record in Serie A so far.

Their league campaign started brightly under new coach Paolo Zanetti, with a shock win over current leaders Napoli, but since the last international break Hellas have recorded an abject run of results.

Just days after losing 3-0 at home to Monza, they suffered a 6-1 beating by Atalanta BC in Bergamo, so the pressure was on to stop the rot against fellow strugglers Lecce in midweek.

Instead, Zanetti's men lost 1-0 after going down to nine men at Via del Mare following the dismissals of Jackson Tchatchoua and Reda Belahyane, the latter of whom lost his head completely - that left them just one point clear of the drop zone.

Hellas Verona Serie A form:

L

L

W

L

L

L

Roma Serie A form:

W

W

D

L

L

W

Roma form (all competitions):

L

D

L

W

L

W

Team News

Ivan Juric was forced to change his plans at short notice on Thursday, as Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini picked up a knock in training and was only fit enough for the bench, while top scorer Artem Dovbyk was laid low by illness.

Both could return to the team this weekend, though Juric spoke highly of Paulo Dybala's display as an unorthodox striker against Torino.

The latter's superb first-half finish took him onto 125 Serie A goals, joining Gonzalo Higuain in third place among the league's top Argentinian scorers - only Hernan Crespo (153) and Gabriel Batistuta (184) have managed more.

The visitors will again be without Alexis Saelemaekers, who is sidelined by an ankle injury, but Mario Hermoso is now available after serving a suspension.

Verona are still missing injured trio Juan Cruz, Pawel Dawidowicz and Martin Frese, while Jackson Tchatchoua and Reda Belahyane must both observe one-match bans.

First-choice goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo was benched in midweek, but he is likely to come back in for Simone Perilli; meanwhile, Dani Silva could replace Belahyane in midfield.

Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:

Montipo; Daniliuc, Ghilardi, Magnani, Bradaric; Duda, Silva; Suslov, Serdar, Lazovic; Tengstedt

Roma possible starting lineup:

Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Angelino; Celik, Le Fee, Kone, El Shaarawy; Pellegrini, Baldanzi; Dybala

We say: Hellas Verona 0-1 Roma

Verona have conceded an average of two goals per game on home turf, and their confidence must be low after losing to Lecce in such dismal fashion.

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