Monzavs.Roma

The Giallorossi's improved domestic form has not yet been matched by results in the Europa League, while their hosts sit rock-bottom of the standings without a league win so far this season.

Match preview

With only one point on the board from their first two league-phase fixtures, Roma have some catching up to do if they are to secure a coveted top-eight spot in the new-look Europa League, following Thursday's 1-0 defeat to Elfsborg.

Just before the break, young forward Tommaso Baldanzi conceded a penalty in Sweden, which the home side duly converted, and captain Lorenzo Pellegrini could not quite salvage a draw when he struck the crossbar late on.

The Giallorossi may have won both Serie A games under new coach Ivan Juric, but they were previously held to a 1-1 draw by Athletic Bilbao and will be under pressure to defeat Dynamo Kyiv later this month.

In addition to their midweek loss in the Swedish city of Boras, Roma have won only one of their last nine away games in Serie A, stretching back to last season. Indeed, the capital club have drawn each of their first three this term - against Cagliari, Juventus and Genoa.

Nonetheless, Juric will now attempt to win three straight games for the very first time since starting his coaching career in the Italian top flight.

Victory this weekend would see him also become only the sixth manager to win his first three league games in charge of Roma - albeit two men on that list were his most recent predecessors, Jose Mourinho and Daniele De Rossi. Both were popular with the fans but ultimately ended up being fired by the Friedkin family.

Since making their long-awaited Serie A debut two years ago, Monza have yet to get the better of Roma: last season, they lost 1-0 at Stadio Olimpico before suffering a 4-1 home defeat in March.

Recent form suggests they should not expect to end that trend on Sunday, as among teams currently in Italy's top tier, the Biancorossi are on the longest winless run.

Following last week's 2-0 loss to Napoli, Alessandro Nesta's side are still without a single Serie A success this season, and stretching back to last March they have not won any of their last 15 league matches.

Since then, there have been six draws and nine defeats, and the last time Monza endured a worse barren spell was a 16-match run nearly 10 years ago, when they were still down in Serie C.

Though they recently booked a place in the Coppa Italia's last 16, where Bologna will await in December, a dismal tally of three points leaves them languishing 20th in the table.

Monza Serie A form:

D

L

D

D

L

L

Monza form (all competitions):

L

D

D

L

W

L

Roma Serie A form:

D

L

D

D

W

W

Roma form (all competitions):

D

D

W

D

W

L

Team News

After Roma were in action on Thursday night, Ivan Juric is sure to rotate his resources ahead of the upcoming international break.

Paulo Dybala has fully recovered from his latest injury layoff and could rejoin Artem Dovbyk up front, with Eldor Shomurodov and Matias Soule making way.

Meanwhile, Gianluca Mancini will return from a thigh problem that saw him left on the bench against Elfsborg, leaving only Enzo Le Fee and Alexis Saelemaekers on the sidelines.

By contrast, Monza have a long list of significant absentees, as Roberto Gagliardini, Andrea Petagna, Stefano Sensi, Patrick Ciurria and goalkeeper Alessio Cragno are all unavailable.

In better news for Alessandro Nesta, Portuguese forward Dany Mota has overcome a muscular issue and should make the matchday squad.

As his side are struggling to score goals, Nesta could bring Gianluca Caprari back into the starting XI, joining Daniel Maldini and Milan Djuric up front.

Caprari made his Serie A debut for Roma back in 2011, and he is now just one goal away from reaching 50 in the Italian top flight, having scored four times against the Giallorossi since leaving.

Monza possible starting lineup:

Turati; Izzo, Mari, Carboni; Pereira, Bondo, Pessina, Kyriakopoulos; Maldini, Caprari; Djuric

Roma possible starting lineup:

Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Angelino; Celik, Cristante, Kone, El Shaarawy; Pellegrini, Dybala; Dovbyk

We say: Monza 1-2 Roma

The team that have racked up the highest number of shots in Serie A so far - Roma, with 103 - meet the side that have attempted the fewest (Monza, 35), so it could be one-way traffic on Sunday evening.

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