Malen chases third elite scalp as he aims for derby glory

Roma's league-leading position rests not only on 14 goals scored—six of them by Donyell Malen and four assists from Paulo Dybala—but fundamentally on their command of dribbling, a technical foundation where the club struggled badly last season. Roma's successful dribbling rate has soared from 39.2% in the 2025–26 campaign to 61.73% in this opening stretch of Serie A, precisely the area Gasperini identified for improvement. The coach hopes to accelerate that progress further in January, when sporting director D'Amico will attempt to secure a left-footed attacking midfielder playing on the right side. The scale of the transformation is stark. Last season Roma ranked 19th overall in dribbling completion; they now lead the league. This tactical shift reflects Gasperini's complete commitment to an attacking-minded approach, beginning with high pressure and ball recovery, and relying on instinct, pure technique and creative play rather than conventional structure. Malen and Soulé top Roma's individual dribbling charts with 2.6 completed dribbles per match apiece. Rodrigo Mora ranks third with 2.1 per match, and Daniele Ghilardi—a defender—sits fourth with 1.9. Dybala, despite his four assists, ranks eighth in the Roma squad with a modest 0.9 dribbles completed per match, converting only 30.8% of his attempts.

AS Roma have established themselves as Serie A's most effective dribbling team this season, recording a successful dribble rate of 61.73% — a dramatic improvement that has placed them ahead of Inter (58.56%), Como (54.14%), Torino (53.88%) and Lazio (53.73%). The turnaround represents a radical shift from the previous season, when Roma finished near the bottom of the same metric with 39.23%. Donyell Malen and Matías Soulé lead Roma's dribbling statistics with 2.6 successful dribbles per match. Malen, who tops the league's scoring charts with 6 goals from Roma's 14, maintains an efficiency rate of 66.7%, while Soulé operates at 51.5%. Manager Gian Piero Gasperini's tactical approach has extended dribbling responsibility throughout the side: Rodrigo Mora averages 2.1 successful dribbles with 60% accuracy despite limited minutes, Wesley completes 1.7 per game at 66.7% efficiency, and defender Daniele Ghilardi has emerged as a surprising contributor with 1.9 dribbles per match at 73% success, reflecting an attacking system that involves defenders in the offensive push. Paulo Dybala trails the trend at 0.9 successful dribbles per match with 30.8% effectiveness, though he compensates through his playmaking, having already recorded 4 assists this season. Looking ahead, Gasperini intends to strengthen the attack further. For the January transfer window, he is seeking a trequartist with strong one-on-one dribbling abilities to increase the unpredictability of Roma's offensive play.

Evan N'Dicka started and played all 90 minutes for Ivory Coast in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ghana on 24 September, lining up alongside Diomande in defence. Konstantinos Koulierakis, his Roma defensive partner, remained on the bench throughout Serbia's Nations League group-stage opener against Greece. Both players were among 12 Roma squad members called up by their respective national teams on the current international window. N'Dicka's full appearance underlines his importance to the Ivory Coast setup, while Koulierakis did not feature in Serbia's debut fixture in Nations League group 2.

Roma's league-leading position rests not only on 14 goals scored—six of them by Donyell Malen and four assists from Paulo Dybala—but fundamentally on their command of dribbling, a technical foundation where the club struggled badly last season. Roma's successful dribbling rate has soared from 39.2% in the 2025–26 campaign to 61.73% in this opening stretch of Serie A, precisely the area Gasperini identified for improvement. The coach hopes to accelerate that progress further in January, when sporting director D'Amico will attempt to secure a left-footed attacking midfielder playing on the right side. The scale of the transformation is stark. Last season Roma ranked 19th overall in dribbling completion; they now lead the league. This tactical shift reflects Gasperini's complete commitment to an attacking-minded approach, beginning with high pressure and ball recovery, and relying on instinct, pure technique and creative play rather than conventional structure. Malen and Soulé top Roma's individual dribbling charts with 2.6 completed dribbles per match apiece. Rodrigo Mora ranks third with 2.1 per match, and Daniele Ghilardi—a defender—sits fourth with 1.9. Dybala, despite his four assists, ranks eighth in the Roma squad with a modest 0.9 dribbles completed per match, converting only 30.8% of his attempts.

AS Roma have established themselves as Serie A's most effective dribbling team this season, recording a successful dribble rate of 61.73% — a dramatic improvement that has placed them ahead of Inter (58.56%), Como (54.14%), Torino (53.88%) and Lazio (53.73%). The turnaround represents a radical shift from the previous season, when Roma finished near the bottom of the same metric with 39.23%. Donyell Malen and Matías Soulé lead Roma's dribbling statistics with 2.6 successful dribbles per match. Malen, who tops the league's scoring charts with 6 goals from Roma's 14, maintains an efficiency rate of 66.7%, while Soulé operates at 51.5%. Manager Gian Piero Gasperini's tactical approach has extended dribbling responsibility throughout the side: Rodrigo Mora averages 2.1 successful dribbles with 60% accuracy despite limited minutes, Wesley completes 1.7 per game at 66.7% efficiency, and defender Daniele Ghilardi has emerged as a surprising contributor with 1.9 dribbles per match at 73% success, reflecting an attacking system that involves defenders in the offensive push. Paulo Dybala trails the trend at 0.9 successful dribbles per match with 30.8% effectiveness, though he compensates through his playmaking, having already recorded 4 assists this season. Looking ahead, Gasperini intends to strengthen the attack further. For the January transfer window, he is seeking a trequartist with strong one-on-one dribbling abilities to increase the unpredictability of Roma's offensive play.

Bryan Cristante has been withdrawn from Italy's Nations League squad after sustaining an injury in Roma's Serie A match against Inter, forcing manager Roberto Mancini to call up Samuele Ricci as his replacement. Cristante was originally selected for the campaign but the physical problem forced him to withdraw from the squad for the clash against Belgium, which marks the start of Italy's new Nations League cycle. The absence provides an opportunity to examine Cristante's relationship with the Nations League and Italy's overall performance with and without him. Across 22 Nations League matches in the period examined, Cristante has appeared eight times. In the other 14 occasions, he has been unavailable: 12 times through non-selection and twice through remaining on the bench. When the Roma midfielder has featured, Italy have recorded four wins, two draws and two defeats. In the 14 matches where Cristante did not play, the Azzurri collected seven wins, six draws and just one loss. Looking specifically at the last six Nations League Finals matches analysed, Cristante appeared in exactly half of them—three times—while not being selected twice and remaining on the bench on one occasion. With Cristante on the pitch, Italy faced Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, securing two victories and one defeat. A notable detail involving Roma's current squad emerged from the Netherlands match: Cristante started that fixture while Donyell Malen started for the opposition. Both players now share Roma's dressing room under head coach Gian Piero Gasperini. In the three matches of that cycle where Cristante was not used, Italy recorded two losses against Germany and Spain, alongside a draw against Germany.