Despite the Paulo Dybala to Saudi Arabia rumors dominating the Roma news cycle and yesterday’s pre-match press conference, there’s still an important match later today. The Giallorossi kick off the 2024-2025 campaign against Cagliari, and it’ll be our first opportunity to see Roma’s big summer signings in an official match.
With that in mind, we’ll start in attack, where both Matías Soulé and Artem Dovbyk will look to have an instant impact on the scoresheet. The attacking duo, brought in for close to €70 million this summer, will spearhead a Roma trident that will also feature Stephan El Shaarawy. In spite of seemingly having one foot out the door, Paulo Dybala has traveled with the team and is available but unlikely to start.
The only player who is not available for this match is Leandro Paredes in the midfield. The Argentine will be serving a one match suspension that carries over from the end of last season. His absence means that Roma’s third summer signing of note, Enzo Fée, will also make his Roma debut from the opening whistle. Le Fée joins Lorenzo Pellegrini and Bryan Cristante in the center of the park.
In defense, there’s little doubt as to which quartet will make up the back four. With Roma still looking to secure depth in the mercato at both center and right back, this part of the line-up writes itself. Angeliño will start on the left with Zeki Çelik on the right, and Gianluca Mancini and Evan N’Dicka will center that pair. Lastly, Mile Svilar gets the start between the sticks.
ROMA (4-3-3): Svilar; Angeliño, N’Dicka, Mancini, Çelik; Le Fée, Cristante, Pellegrini; Soulé, Dovbyk, El Shaarawy.