Serie A official line-ups: Inter vs. Roma
Lautaro Martinez returns to partner Marcus Thuram and there are changes in defence for stuttering leaders Inter, as Roma welcome back Matias Soulé with Donyell Malen.
It kicks off at San Siro at 19.45 UK time (20.45 CEST).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s Serie A games on the Liveblog.
Inter saw their lead at the top of the table shrink from 10 points down to just six, following a defeat to Milan, then back-to-back 1-1 draws with Atalanta and Fiorentina.
It is perhaps no coincidence that this spell was during Lautaro Martinez’s injury, but he returns for the first time since that calf strain in the Champions League play-off with Bodo/Glimt on February 18.
He partners Marcus Thuram, who last week scored his first goal for France in three years, while Hakan Calhanoglu has also shaken off a knock after taking Turkiye to the World Cup.
However, Yann Bisseck picked up an injury and Carlos Augusto is suspended, so Francesco Acerbi gets a rare start in defence.
He is with Alessandro Bastoni, and it remains to be seen how he will deal with the trauma of his red card in Italy’s World Cup play-off defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Roma have an injury crisis on their hands, because Wesley was ruled out for a month after suffering a muscular strain while playing for Brazil.
Manu Koné, Paulo Dybala, Artem Dovbyk and Evan Ferguson are also still on the treatment table.
The one piece of good news is the return of Soulé, who has not played since February 15 due to a recurring inflammation of the hip joints.
He forms the partnership with successful January signing Malen, who is already Roma’s top scorer this season, despite only arriving from Aston Villa at the turn of the year.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are currently joint fifth with Juventus, three points adrift of Como, as they too had a recent slump with Europa League elimination, then one point from three Serie A rounds.
They went into the break for international duty when scraping a 1-0 victory over Lecce.
With Wesley out, Devyne Rensch is preferred to Kostas Tsimikas, who has been largely a disappointment since the loan move from Liverpool, and Zeki Celik moved to the left.
Niccolo Pisilli takes the midfield reins rather than Neil El Aynaoui, with Evan Ndicka returning from suspension.
Inter vs. Roma official line-ups
Inter: Sommer; Akanji, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Dimarco; Thuram, Lautaro Martinez
Roma: Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Hermoso; Rensch, Cristante, Pisilli, Celik; Soulé, Pellegrini; Malen
