Away, Roma continues to play terrible and show terrible results. Haven’t won in the last 15 matches in all tournaments. But it turns out much better at home. Two wins in a row so far, three in the last five matches, six in the last ten. Will it be possible to recover from another terrible trip at home, and against a team from Serie B?
Italian Cup. 1/8 finals
December 18. 22:00. Rome. Stadio Olimpico
“Roma” – “Sampdoria” (II)
Referee: Federico Dionisi
Command status
Roma disgraced themselves in Como. In the first half against the Serie A newcomer, who had not won in nine previous league matches and conceded in all 15 of the season, she played gloomily and stubbornly, as always, not knowing what to do with 70 percent of the ball. And in the second, it simply fell apart with 1:14 of shots on goal and deservedly conceded twice in added time.
Head coach Claudio Ranieri spoke about the incorrect reading of the game, about unforgivable mistakes in the episodes, about Como’s greater desire in the second half, but he still could not properly explain such a failure. He also said that he was pleased with the first half, that it was only missing a goal. And this despite the fact that then Roma created almost nothing despite all the possession of the ball.
Now they are only two points above the relegation zone and 15 behind the Champions League zone. With five defeats in the last six league matches. And the media are reporting that the owners are threatening to disperse the players as early as January.
However, at Sampdoria, the team Ranieri coached three years ago, the situation is even worse. She is one point above the relegation zone, from Serie B. She is also coached by her third coach of the season, and while Ranieri has already played six matches at Roma, Leonardo Semplici’s tenure has just begun. 0:0 against Spezia. And Andrea Sottil was sacked after a 1:5 away defeat to Sassuolo.
The positive for Roma is the game at home. Where she won the previous two matches – 4:1 over Lecce in the league and 3:0 over Braga in the Europa League. Then it seemed that the way out of the crisis had finally begun. Now she won’t be deceived so easily, but, in any case, it’s more pleasant to play at home. And the positive for Sampdoria is in Semplici’s debut without conceding goals and in general in the hope of a new coach.
The Genoese also take positive cues from the Cup. Where two teams from Serie A have already passed, including the same “Como”. Genoa, with whom Roma drew in the league this season, also passed. These two Samp successes, however, took place in penalty shootouts (after the score was 1:1 in regular time) and at the home stadium of Luigi Ferraris. And here we will have to play away.
Ranieri and Semplici are cautious coaches who build a strong defense above all else. Playing with three central defenders. Although, most likely, Roma will have the ball in huge percentages. However, we have already seen many times that she does not know what to do with it. At the beginning of the match she will run to rehabilitate herself for Como, but if she doesn’t score, she might get nervous.
Latest team matches
Personnel
At the end of the week, Roma faces another match against a rival in their battle against relegation. And in general, it is logical to expect rotation today. Sule, Baldanzi, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Zalewski, even Shomurodov can expect to start. Paredes is back. But Hummels is injured, as are Cristante and Kone (new injury). Mancini is suspended.
Second goalkeeper Ryan may make his debut for the club.
Will Artem Dovbik appear in the starting lineup? He did not appear in the last three matches, and Ranieri constantly talks about his health problems, missing training, and poor physical shape. He can now be considered a reserve player. But in the last two matches he came on as a substitute at the beginning of the second half. It is logical that in such a rotation match he will come out from the first minutes.
Compared to Sottila’s last match, Semplici benched six players in his first. Today it would be logical to sit down the other five for a rest – Ioanna, Venuti, Riccio, Melenstine and Tutino. But the lack of players in defense is unlikely to allow this program to be fully implemented. After all, defenders Simone Romagnoli, Bereshinski and Alex Ferrari are injured.
One of the main issues is goalkeeping. Two have already played in the Cup – Ghidotti and Silvestri. Ghidotti also played against Spezia. And the third one – Vismara – played against Sassuolo.
“Roma”: Svilar, Celik, Ermoso, Ndika, Abdulhamid, Paredes, Pisilli, Zalevski, Sule, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Dovbik
Sampdoria: Ghidotti, Venuti, Melenstine, Vulikic, Depaoli, M. Ricci, Bellemo, Benedetti, Barreca, Coda, La Gumina
Figures and facts
- Roma won their last three head-to-head matches against Sampdoria with results of 1:0, 1:0 and 3:0, but right before that they didn’t win two in a row – 1:1 and 0:2
- The results of the last head-to-head matches in Rome are a draw, two wins for Roma, a win for Sampdoria, three wins for Roma, a win for Sampdoria, three wins for Roma, a draw, a win for Roma
- In the Cup, the last three head-to-head matches took place in Rome (in 2008, 2014 and 2017) and ended in victories for Roma – 1:0, 1:0 and 4:0
- Results of Roma’s latest matches against everyone on all fields in the Cup – two defeats, a win, a loss, a win, a loss, a win, a loss
- Four of Sampdoria’s last six Cup matches ended in penalties (the last three after the score was 1:1 in regular time). The other two were defeats in regulation time
- The last time Sampdoria reached the quarter finals of the Cup was in the 2010/11 season. Roma have reached the quarter finals (and been eliminated) in five of the last six seasons, having been eliminated in the round of 16 four seasons ago
- Results of Roma’s last home matches in all tournaments against everyone – win, lose, two wins, two losses, two wins
- Sampdoria have not won in their last seven matches on all fields in all competitions – four draws, three defeats
- The results of Sampdoria’s last away matches in all tournaments – a draw and Genoa’s passage in the Cup in a penalty shootout, two wins, a draw, a loss, a draw, a loss
Prediction: Roma – Sampdoria 3:1
The teams are not thinking about the Cup, but about the league, which is in the same terrible state. Except that the last match brought them different emotions. In favor of Sampdoria. On the other hand, Roma are playing at home, where they look good, and in terms of level, the underdog in Serie A should still be much higher than the underdog in Serie B. The feeling is that the Romans will win by scoring a lot. Dovbik will also score.
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