Roma will play host to Inter on Sunday night at the Stadio Olimpico in a Serie A match that both clubs can ill afford to drop points in, as they continue their chase for their respective goals.
The Lupi will be looking to maintain their chase on current Serie A leaders Juventus while the Nerazzurri will be looking to take home three points in order to avoid falling further adrift from the final Champions League spot.
The Giallorossi maintained their three point gap from Juve after an impressive 2-1 away victory over Atalanta last Saturday, but are coming off the back of a deflating 1-1 draw against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League in a match that saw the Italian side throw away the lead in injury time.
The Nerazzurri will be looking to kick things into gear under new coach Roberto Mancini who returned to the Biscione bench last Sunday, with a Joel Obi goal in the second half enough to secure a point from the Derby della Madonnina against AC Milan.
The two sides famously battled for major honours during Mancini’s last reign on the Nerazzurri bench from 2004 to 2008, with both sides distinguishing themselves as the marquee club’s of that time.
Inter secured three Scudetti during that time with the Giallorossi finishing as runners-up on all three occasions, while both sides secured two Coppa Italia crowns after squaring off against each other in four consecutive finals.
Last season saw the Giallorossi secure an impressive 3-0 victory at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in October, an early indication of the threat the Giallorossi would pose under then new boss Rudi Garcia.
The return fixture ended in a 0-0 draw in Roma in a match that all but spelled an end to the Giallorossi’s chances of catching Juventus for the title.
The French tactician will be without long term absentees Federico Balzaretti, Leandro Castan, Gianluca Curci, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Vasilis Torosidis for Sunday’s encounter.
Maicon and Alessandro Florenzi are in doubt due to knee and quadriceps injuries respectively, thought the Brazilian is expected to start.
Captain Francesco Totti is expected to start after serving a one match ban against La Dea last week and scoring midweek against CSKA Moscow.
Mancini’s list of absentees is much shorter with Jonathan the only player guaranteed to miss the match.
Yann M’Vila and Danilo D’Ambrosio were not called up for the Nerazzurri’s midweek Europa League clash but are expected to be named to Sunday’s squad. Nemanja Vidic is battling knee inflammation but is expected to be called up, though he will likely start the match from the bench.
Former Roma striker Pablo Osvaldo is expected to be named to the squad after returning from injury last week against Milan but is not expected to start against the side he featured for from 2011 to 2013. While Yuto Nagatomo came off during the 2-1 win over Dnipro, so may miss the weekend tie.
Expected Starting XIs
Roma (4-3-3): De Sanctis; Maicon, Astori, Manolas, Holebas; Nainggolan, De Rossi, Pjanic; Iturbe, Totti, Gervinho
Inter (4-3-1-2): Handanovic; Campagnaro, Ranocchia, Juan Jesus, Dodo; Guarin, Medel, Hernanes; Kovacic; Palacio, Icardi
