The Stadio Arechi in Salerno is the stage for tonight’s Serie A clash between hosts Salernitana and Roma, as both teams vie for crucial points in their respective pursuits of success in Serie A.
Fresh off the debut of new manager Daniele De Rossi, the Giallorossi entered Monday with a chance to move within one point of fourth place thanks to last weekend’s victory against Hellas Verona—their first in nearly a month.
Kick-off is scheduled for 20.45 CET at the Stadio Arechi in Salerno.
Roma
Entering game two of the post-Jose Mourinho era, Roma find themselves in another must-win situation when they travel to Campagna on Monday.
A win would put the Giallorossi just one point behind Atalanta for the fourth and final Champions League place. Though, manager Daniele De Rossi insisted things won’t be as easy many assume against the Granata.
“There are more difficulties when you face a team battling relegation,” began De Rossi.
“They’ve obviously had some problems if they’re at the bottom of the table. There are more difficulties because in the second half of the season, points mean more and the teams that are fighting to stay up always give an extra something.
“We’ll be playing at their ground. I’ve never played at Salerno and I’m curious because from the outside it seems like an exciting stadium, especially the Curva. They’ll definitely have an extra push. It’s a shame we won’t have that extra push from our fans. It’s disappointing but we’ll be playing for them too.”
Luckily, De Rossi will welcome back key pieces that missed last weekend’s victory over Verona: Italian duo Bryan Cristante and Gianluca Mancini return from suspension while Houssem Aouar is back from international duty. Meanwhile, Paulo Dybala is expected to start in a wider position on the right with Stephan El Shaarawy on the other flank and Romelu Lukaku in the middle.
Salernitana
It’s all hands on deck for Salernitana as they find themselves sitting bottom of the Serie A with just 12 points overall and six points from safety.
They enter Monday on a three match losing streak and the pressure for survival increasing by the day. Despite this, manager Pippo Inzaghi believes his side have shown plenty of positives in their recent displays and is confident heading into the game.
“We’ll need the class ‘perfect’ game on Monday. We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, I’m convinced we’ll have a good performance,” Inzaghi told reporters during his pre-match press conference.
“It’s a home match for us so we’ll be in front of our supporters, which gives us a huge boost and offers us a chance to earn an important result. We have to move forward with what we’re doing by changing the outcome of the final score without altering our performances.”
Adding, “We played well against Genoa and slowly we’re starting to recover more important players. In terms of play, the team is right there, we’ve always shown the right desire in our approach. I’m convinced if we stay on the path we’re on that sooner or later our fortunes will change.”
Predicted Lineups
SALERNITANA (4-3-2-1): Ochoa; Zanoli, Gyomber, Lovato, Bradaric; Maggiore, Legowski, Kastanos; Candreva, Tchaouna; Simy
Unavailable: Jovane Cabral, Lorenzo Pirola, Federico Fazio, Boulaye Dia, Lassana Coulibaly
ROMA (4-3-3): Rui Patricio; Karsdorp, Mancini, Llorente, Kristensen; Pellegrini, Cristante, Bove; Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy
Unavailable: Tammy Abraham, Evan Ndicka, Renato Sanches, Leandro Paredes, Leonardo Spinazzola, Chris Smalling, Sardar Azmoun
