GIALLOROSSI YORKSHIRE BLOG
Roma will appear in the Coppa Italia for the first time this season tomorrow, as Sinisa Mihajlovic's Torino visit.
The Round of 16 tie kicks off at 4:30pm UK time. Torino are having a mixed season in Serie A, but will still fancy their chances against a Roma side who have been struggling to find goals recently. At the same time, Roma remain favourites and will be looking to make their first steps towards bettering last season's achievement of reaching the semi finals. The two sides met in the league back in October with Roma winning 1-0, Aleksandar Kolarov getting the goal. Since then, Torino have had differing fortunes, winning three, drawing four, and losing two of their nine games in both the league and cup. Their last fixture was a 3-1 defeat to Napoli, which saw them drop one place to tenth in the Serie A table. They beat Carpi at the end of November to reach this stage of the Coppa Italia. They will be better balanced for this encounter with Roma, as this time they can call on their star striker Andrea Belotti, who missed the league game between the two sides through injury. Highly-rated Belotti scored his side's solitary goal against Napoli. Meanwhile, Roma will be showing how seriously they are taking the Coppa this season. Di Francesco's team selection should give some hints as to how high the competition ranks on his list of priorities. One thing we do know is that Emerson Palmieri is expected to make a first start since returning from an ACL injury. The left back was one of the standout performers of last season, but Kolarov has been impressing in his place whilst he has been recovering this term. Emerson will be keen to put in a good shift and remind everyone of his qualities as he continues his return to first-team action. One thing Roma must always be wary of against Torino is the number of former employees hoping to make an impression. The team are led by an ex-Roma player of two seasons in Mihajlovic, and their playing squad contains ex-Giallorossi forwards Adem Ljajic, Iago Falque and the on-loan Sadiq Umar. Could any of them make an impact? Roma will be looking to get the job done efficiently, with a match against another Turin side, Juventus, waiting after this one. Can Di Francesco's team get through the cup tie without expending all their energy? It will be a far from simple task, but the coach will be hoping he can find a way of doing so.
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samuel bannister
Founder and editor of Giallorossi Yorkshire, who is also a columnist for Roma's official website about the women's team. Categories
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