Roma vs Frosinone: Spalletti seeking first win
Roma will hope to bounce back as they welcome Serie A debutants Frosinone to the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
The Giallorossi may have sacked Rudi Garcia and his staff after a poor run of results, but the return of Luciano Spalletti has not paid off yet. A draw against bottom-feeders Hellas Verona was followed by a defeat to Juventus last weekend, and given that they are now 12 points behind league leaders Napoli, Roma will be keen on at least making sure that AC Milan does not overtake them in the table.
The past two seasons saw Roma have to settle for second as Juventus cruised to their third and fourth consecutive Scudetti and it looks like Lupi fans will have to wait yet another season to see if their side will have better luck in their quest to become crowned champions of Italy. Although they appear to be seriously out of the running for the Scudetto – unless if something shocking happens – there is still third place, and Champions League football up for grabs if they can get their act together. And there will represent no better chance to get back on track as they take on Frosinone, a team that have only earned two points from their last five matches.
Not surprisingly, it has been a rough ride in Serie A for the Canarini and along fellow newboys Carpi, they have spent much of this campaign in the bottom three of the table. Roberto Stellone’s men are sans a win in their last seven matches and despite posting some impressive results this season – including holding Juventus to a 1-1 draw on matchday five – things do not look promising for the visitors. Frosinone have won just four games so far this season, and all have been at the Stadio Matusa. They have lost all but two of their ten away fixtures, scoring just seven goals and conceding a whopping 25; as such, expect them to try to frustrate their opponents by putting men behind the ball as they will be hoping to manage a draw.
Roma fans will see some changes to the squad, as Gervinho has moved on to Chinese outfit Hebei China Fortune. The Ivorian international scored six goals and provide one assist in 14 appearances this season, and contributed 17 over his 71 appearances from 2013 until this January. One new face that will be familiar to Serie A fans will be Stephan El Shaarawy. The 23-year-old burst onto the scene following an impressive campaign at AC Milan during the 2012/2013 season, but began to fade as injuries and burnout took their toll. A venture to Ligue 1 with Monaco was intended to restart his flagging young career, but ended abruptly after Leonardo Jardim was not impressed enough to activate the must-buy clause in his contract, and after 24 games, Les Rouges et Blancs froze him out of the squad.
Now back in his native Italy with Roma, El Shaarawy will be keen on getting his career back on track and fans will hope that il Faraone could provide the creative spark the Giallorossi desperately need to revive their season, which has been disappointing as of late.
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