Balbo backs Gasperini's Roma for Scudetto but warns against comparing them to Sensi's 2001 side

Radio pundits across Rome's airwaves have made Roma's home clash with Udinese a must-win fixture, with several arguing that a victory would allow the club to push on in a manageable run of fixtures. Carina, speaking on Radio Radio, said: "On paper it is a round that should help the two Roman clubs. I am convinced Milan can win this derby. Udinese are a big unknown: last year Roma played a bad game, and if Udinese manage to produce a match like that, Roma can run into difficulties. Malen is incredible: he scores a goal a game. Roma were "Svilar-dependent", this year that is not the case, they score a lot. It is a more "Gasperinian" side than last year's and it is bearing fruit. What surprises me is not so much the play as the number of injuries. It would surprise me to see De Roon start, because against Cagliari he seemed tired to me. It seems to me a game to play with two behind Malen. This is a game Roma must win: if they win today, they have an affordable schedule and can push on emphatically." Sabatini, also on Radio Radio, said Udinese are going through a negative period. "Seeing them rack up five or six defeats seems an anomaly to me for a side that is not destined for last place. Roma have every chance of winning, but beware: Udinese can wake up." Pruzzo, on the same station, said Roma's game is within reach and could help them move closer to the top, noting that Inter have not won the derby in seven matches. He added that Pisilli adapts to anything and must play, and that the team seems capable of a less physical game: "If you get into a physical battle with them it can become complicated. You have to focus on technique and quality." Orsi, also on Radio Radio, said: "Udinese come off five defeats, and they lost them deservedly: this is the worst Udinese of recent years. Roma must take advantage. I am sorry, because Udinese are a tough side, but Roma cannot waste this match."

Former Udinese and Roma striker Abel Balbo says Roma are genuinely title contenders this season, and that Matías Soulé has become a leader on the pitch. Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport ahead of Udinese v Roma, Balbo described the match as the one closest to his heart, saying he became a man in Friuli, where he was welcomed like a son. He reached Udine thanks to a tip from Marino, who had come to watch him in secret in Argentina. On Roma, Balbo was effusive. "Roma are very strong, really very strong. They have a solid group, made up of players with real backbone. Gasp gets the best out of them, they would throw themselves into the fire for him." Asked who had surprised him most, he named Soulé first, saying: "He has become a leader, he knows how to carry the team on his shoulders." He also singled out Balerdi as "the perfect player for a coach like Gasp." Balbo believes Roma can win the Scudetto, although he acknowledged Inter are better equipped at present, both in their starting eleven and in their reserves. "Roma will play the role of the antagonist until the end. If the Nerazzurri slip up, they will have to be ready to seize the opportunity." He was less comfortable with comparisons to the Roma side that won the title in 2001: "No... go easy on the comparisons. That team was a different thing. We had champions in every department. I was the fourth striker, and in front of me I had Batistuta, Totti and Montella. We could only win." He credited that success to president Franco Sensi, "an enlightened president. There are no more men like him in football." Balbo said Sensi had been the one who wanted him in Rome, and that he was infinitely grateful. He nearly joined Inter instead, but president Pellegrini did not sign him because of his poor signature, which he later changed. Sensi spent 18 billion old lire to bring him from Udine, and Balbo turned down many offers in the following years, including from Juventus, which he would not have accepted out of respect. He also recalled playing alongside a young Francesco Totti, who was already very strong. "We tried to reassure him and let him be calm. After Fonseca's injury he often played in partnership with me. I taught him nothing, you cannot teach someone like that, but I tried to make him feel at ease." He added: "If I had played with him years later I would have scored a mountain of goals." On the fixture itself, Balbo said it would be "very physical, decided by details." Roma are chasing the Scudetto and must sustain their excellent results, while Udinese must escape the relegation zone. "It will require personality: the bianconeri are strong and have a good coach. A table like theirs is inexplicable."

Former Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini has praised the club's current form and the coaching of Gian Piero Gasperini, speaking in an interview with Il Foglio about the opening weeks of the Serie A season. Sabatini said he had seen a Roma match a month earlier and had been struck by how the players sought each other out and embraced after a decisive goal. Sabatini said: "Spiritual cohesion is a superior factor. Roma are going through this collective state of mind: Gasperini teaches the orthodoxy of winning, he is a coach who makes you take giant strides." He pointed to the 3-3 draw with Napoli as a boost for Italian football, saying both sides had played superbly in a battle that honoured the ball. Sabatini added: "When we are at this level, everyone has to chase the Serie A title." His comments underline the belief that Roma's collective spirit, built under Gasperini, has carried the team through the early stages of the campaign.