Roma v Fiorentina

Undoubtedly the clash of the weekend in Serie A and probably in Europe. Kinda sucks that its an early morning game though.

We remain undefeated this season and with only one goal concede at home. Fiorentina come to the Olimpico on the back of 4 wins while only giving up 6 goals on the road. They are in rather good form right now, to say the least, but still missing Mario Gomez. We, however, are on something of a downturn....I won't say decline since we haven't actually lost any games.

Biggest news surrounding this game is without a doubt the return of Totti to match fitness. He is expected to make the bench and may likely see some time tomorrow. In his absence, we may see Ljajic, Gervinho and Florenzi up front. Rest of the squad will remain unchanged with Dodo continuing to fill in for the injured Balza.

The history behind this fixture says that there will be goals galore, but we haven't given up anything more than a goal a game all season so far so that may be something of a misnomer. I would rather we keep this close and controlled. Our defense should be able to handle the red-hot Beppe Rossi, but we also have Cuadrado and Valero to worry about as well though. Neto has proven himself an extremely error-prone keeper so that will play in our favor as well. We just have to create chances and take them. The former has been easy...the latter has been tougher.

I don't think missing Totti the player has been Roma's problem.

Missing a Totti-esque player has been the problem. Pjanic is a player who has this same ability, albeit not at the level that Totti has developed to over the years. In Totti's absence however, he has filled the void extremely well.

With Totti back though, he should be able to slot back into his previous midfield role which saw him become a more complete 2-way player. That's what will get Roma scoring again methinks.

The loss of Pjanic is going to be felt keenly. That's a huge blow for us. Milan are in poor form, but they are still dangerous and without Pjanic, we will need to rely on Totti for the creativity. Bradley will step into midfield and provide steel and grit defensively, but not much going forward...which is why this worries me quite a bit. As a US fan, I know what he's capable of in attack, but that's just not how Garcia tends to use him.

Beyond that....Castan-Benatia once again showed why they are the best CB pairing in Serie A as well as among the best in Europe. Add DDR in the mix and we have a defensive Holy Trinity on our hands here....they just didn't let up on Fiorentina and Rossi barely got a sniff at goal as a result (the best of those sniffs being the one Castan blocked at the end).

Yeah Dodo didn't have too bad a game though he was very culpable in the build up to Fiorentina's goal. Atrocious pass started that play. I think that's just nerves though.

That said, I'm still in favor of bringing in another LB...for versatility, for depth, for tactics....It would be a tough go to depend on a half-fit Balza and a rather raw Dodo for another whole season.

Not after they just signed him in the summer. Plus Garcia would never allow it. Stroots stays for now.