N'Dicka wants to finish this run of matches strongly against Sassuolo

Roma sporting director Tony D'Amico, speaking to reporters at the Stadio Olimpico before the Serie A clash with Sassuolo, the club's eleventh league matchday, said the squad lacks a fast, direct wide player and that the club will try to address it in January. Asked whether an extra wide attacker would help solve the problem of coming back from behind, D'Amico said: "This is the problem we understood at the end of the transfer window. We are missing a winger with pace, for counterattacks. We will try to do it in January, evaluating the opportunities. We will try to give these characteristics to the coach." On Manu Koné, D'Amico said Roma are in contact with all national teams, and confirmed the Frenchman was back available after a good week. "Today Manu is back, he has had a good week. The coach has decided to play him and we are happy. It is his ninth match in 28 days, and with him in the side we can let others who have spent a lot in these games recover." D'Amico was also asked whether Roma lacked experience in Manchester. He said: "Environments like Manchester's you know. The stadium pushed hard, but I think it was there, and against Real, that they showed us a great Roma that imposes its own game. Against these teams there are moments of difficulty. The penalty I think was more than generous. It was a difficult moment, but that does not mean a penalty like that should be conceded. These experiences are still important for a Roma that, after 7 years, is back in the Champions League. It helps all of us, including the club."

Roma defender D'Amico has said the club must add a pacy external attacker, with the January transfer window the next opportunity to bring in that profile. Speaking ahead of Roma-Sassuolo, a Serie A match for matchday 11, he said the issue had become clear by the end of the summer transfer window. "Sicuramente questa è una problematica che a fine mercato abbiamo capito. Per caratteristiche manca un attaccante esterno di gamba di ripartenza, quindi certamente valuteremo le opportunità nel mercato di gennaio per portare questa nuova caratteristica al mister." The question of whether another wide attacker and further signings could fix Roma's problem with late comebacks was put to him directly. D'Amico's answer makes clear that the club sees a specific gap in its attacking options, one that the squad as it stands does not fill. On Manu Koné, D'Amico was asked whether the club had been in direct contact with the French national team. He replied: "Noi ci confrontiamo un po' con tutte le nazionali. Manu oggi rientra, ha fatto una settimana di allenamenti, il mister ha deciso di schierarlo perchè lo ha visto bene. Questa è la nona partita in 28 giorni e con Manu abbiamo la possibilità di far rifiatare i ragazzi che hanno speso tanto in queste partite." He said Koné returns today after a week of training, that the coach chose to field him because he had seen him in good shape, and that this is the club's ninth match in 28 days, with Koné giving tired players a chance to rest.

Sassuolo coach Aquilani spoke ahead of Roma v Sassuolo, a Serie A matchday 11 fixture, saying that coming back to the Stadio Olimpico as a coach is an emotional occasion for him. He said: "It's obvious this stadium means something important to me. I live five minutes from here, I dreamed of this stadium throughout my adolescence and I had the honour of playing here. Coming back as a coach has a nice feeling. It's obvious that my role obliges me to set this aspect aside a little, because I arrive in a rather low mood given our latest results, so we must look for every way to pick ourselves up and draw something from within, because we need it. We are aware that today we face a very, very strong team." Sassuolo are in a difficult run. Aquilani explained that they have lost four consecutive matches, and that the early-season results had created confidence before the sequence of defeats began. He said that losing one game and then another leaves a side chasing, and that the team's project is built on a style of play and a lightness the players need in order to express themselves. He added that if results do not come, everything becomes more complicated. Asked whether he had made tactical changes, Aquilani said he had changed "something small" so as not to abandon the side's identity, and had asked his players to do the things they believe in. He said the breaks have been going against his team, and that while the side can defend deep in its own box, "if you lack the moment, no formation holds." On the Roma threat, he said: "Roma have the best attack in the league, and at the moment we are suffering because we concede too many goals, so we have to find adjustments." He also called for a different competitive fury, saying: "otherwise you can put ten men behind the ball and still concede the same goal." On whether the team selection points to a Sassuolo side seeking more balance at the back, he said there is an adjustment in that area, but that individual awareness of danger, and concentration in certain zones of the pitch, matter as much as tactics. Asked whether a player can be trained to be more of a man than a footballer, he said that talking about it is already training, that eye contact matters more than work on the defensive phase alone, and that there is no way to certify it. He added that the game is about doing rather than saying, and that courage and personality are required. Aquilani said that the coming matches are ones the squad needs in order to grow, and that the team must bring the moments to their side, as in recent games the moment had been too easy for the opponents.

Roma host Sassuolo at the Stadio Olimpico looking to bounce back from their defeat to Manchester United and to secure a third straight win. Gian Piero Gasperini has named Leonardo Balerdi in defence in place of the injured Gianluca Mancini. Manu Koné returns to the starting midfield after almost a month out with injury, and the Champions League front three of Rodrigo Mora and Matías Soulé behind Donyell Malen is retained. Roma line up in a 3-4-2-1 formation: Vásquez; Balerdi, N'Dicka, Hermoso; Molina, Koné, Cristante, Wesley; Soulé, Mora; Malen. Sassuolo, coached by Aquilani, play a 4-4-2: Muric; Walukiewicz, Idzes, Caleta-Car, Cinquegrano; Sulemana, Matic, Thorstvedt, Doig; Laurienté, Esposito. The Roma substitutes are De Marzi, Kilvinger, Koulierakis, Ghilardi, Lulli, De Roon, Pisilli, Castro, Maccaroni and Arena. Sassuolo's bench includes Turati, Satalino, Candé, Van der Brempt, Odenthal, Obrador, Adzic, Bakola, Lipani, Ghion, Berardi, Bowie, Skjellerup and Pierini. The referee is Di Bello, with assistants Peretti and Scatragli. The fourth official is Abisso, the VAR is Pezzuto and the AVAR is Guida.

Roma host Sassuolo at the Stadio Olimpico this evening in Serie A's eleventh matchday, looking to bounce back quickly from the painful comeback they suffered against Manchester United in the Champions League and to stay in the top reaches of the table. Gian Piero Gasperini's side are without Mile Svilar, Paulo Dybala, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Devyne Rensch, while Pierluigi Gollini is not yet fully fit and is expected to give way again to Devis Vásquez. Sassuolo, coached by Alberto Aquilani, arrive without Berardi and Volpato and after four consecutive league defeats. Gasperini is expected to keep Vásquez in goal, with Gianluca Mancini, Evan N'Dicka and Mario Hermoso in defence. Nahuel Molina is favoured on the right flank, while Matías Soulé and Rodrigo Mora are set to operate behind Donyell Malen up front. Manu Koné is back available and is expected to start. The probable Roma formation is a 3-4-2-1: Vásquez; Balerdi, N'Dicka, Hermoso; Molina, Cristante, Koné, Wesley; Soulé, Mora; Malen. The Roma bench lists De Marzi, Kilvinger, Ghilardi, Koulierakis, Lulli, De Roon, Pisilli, Di Nunzio, Castro, Arena and Maccaroni. Sassuolo line up in a 3-4-2-1 as well: Turati; Walukiewicz, Idzes, Candé; Cinquegrano, Matic, Thorstvedt, Doig; Esposito, Laurienté; Bowie. Their bench includes Muric, Satalino, Van der Brempt, Odenthal, Caleta-Car, Obrador, Ghion, Sulemana, Adzic, Lipani, Dominguez, Pierini and Skjellerup. The match is refereed by Di Bello of Brindisi, with Peretti and Scatragli as assistant referees, Abisso as fourth official, Pezzuto as VAR and Guida as assistant VAR.

Gian Piero Gasperini is set to start Manu Koné in midfield for Roma's home match against Sassuolo, after the French midfielder overcame recent muscular problems. The game comes as the club's last outing before the international break. Koné's return is a key boost for a midfield that has been under heavy energy demands during a recent run of fixtures across Serie A and the cups. According to Sky Sport, Gasperini will also rely on the physicality and structure of Leonardo Balerdi and Evan Ndicka at the back, as the defence looks to regain solidity after recent outings. With Ndicka back to full training after his workload was managed over the last few matchdays, the Giallorossi defence regains a key pillar to provide cover and build-up play from the back. The simultaneous inclusion of Balerdi and Ndicka allows Gasperini to keep a three-man defensive setup with advanced wing-backs, balancing the push of the flanks while offering protection both on the counterattack and on set pieces and in dealing with opponents' aerial threat.