Carpi will host Roma on Friday night at the Stadio Alberto Braglia in Modena as they prepare to play against another one of Italy’s big clubs.
The Biancorossi lost 1-0 away to Napoli on Sunday afternoon and currently sit 18th in the Serie A table with 19 points after 24 games. Fabrizio Castori’s side have not won in the league since they defeated Sampdoria back in week 20. Before losing their last two league games, Carpi went five games without a loss.
The Giallorossi defeated the Blucerchiati 2-1 on Sunday night. Now they are fifth in the league with 44 points and two points away from a Champions League position.
Roma thrashed Carpi 5-1 in the previous encounter between the two teams in week 6. This resulted in Castori being replaced by Giuseppe Sannino for five games until he was reinstated. Gervinho was one of the Lupi’s goalscorers on the day but he is now playing for Chinese club Hebei China Fortune.
Luciano Spalletti’s team have won their last three matches in Serie A and the returning coach has stuck with the 3-4-2-1 formation instead of his preferred 4-2-3-1. A key player in Roma’s victories recently is Stephan El Shaarawy, who has played in all three wins, scoring two goals and assisting one.
Diego Perotti arrived from Genoa in January and he has been an important player in his two appearances so far. He created El Shaarawy’s goal in the 2-0 win against Sassuolo and he scored with a splendid volley against Samp on the weekend.
Castori will be missing Raffaele Blanco, who was sent-off against Napoli, and Matteo Fedele with a knee injury. Emanuele Suagher and Jonathan De Guzman have to go through fitness tests before the game.
Spalletti will still be missing Radja Nainggolan because of suspension. Norbert Gyomber is out because of a fractured toe and Vasilis Torosidis is unavailable because of an injury to his calf.
Form Guide: Carpi (W-D-D-L-L) Roma (D-L-W-W-W)
Expected Starting XIs
Carpi: Belec; Zaccardo, Romagnoli, Gagliolo; Sabelli, Crimi, Lollo, Martinho, Letizia; Mancosu, Lasagna
Roma: Szczesny; Rudiger, Manolas, Zukanovic; Maicon, Pjanic, Keita, El Shaarawy; Salah, Perotti; Dzeko
