We travel to Abruzzo to take on a Pescara side in serious disarray. Their misfortune and poor form as whipping boys of the league will mean that 3 points should be a formality for us tomorrow, but as Romanisti, we should always be cautious of what looks like the easiest of draws.

Squad News

Mauro Goicoechea will make his 3rd start of the season as Stekelenburg continues his recovery and Lobont has fallen to 3rd choice overall, 2nd now to the young Uruguayan. Tomas Svedkauskas remains in reserve.

Leandro Castan and Marquinhos will start in the center of defense, flanked by Ivan Piris and Federico Balzaretti on the right and left. In reserve, we have Nico Burdisso, Alessio Romagnoli and Dodo.

Panagiotis Tachtsidis is expected to make his return from the 1-match ban he picked up in the derby and will slot into the midfield alongside Michael Bradley and Miralem Pjanic, which will mean Alessandro Florenzi may drop to the bench alongside Simone Perrotta and Marquinho. Daniele De Rossi will be serving the 2nd of his 3 match ban.

With Erik Lamela out for approximately 3 weeks, meaning he's likely to miss this match as well as our trip to Siena and our game with Fiorentina, Mattia Destro is expected to slot in on the right with Dani Osvaldo and Totti in center and left respectively. Young Nico Lopez will remain on the bench, but unlike previous games and with Lamela's absence, the youngster is expected to see some time tomorrow.




The Opposition



Coached last year by Zeman and featuring rising Italian stars such as Lorenzo Insigne, Ciro Immobile, and Marco Verratti, Pescara won Serie B in grand fashion, but have now completely collapsed without the man and the stars that got them to the top flight. Zeman's successor, Giovanni Stroppa has now stepped down after guiding Pescara to 3 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses. Former Delfini defender Cristiano Bergodi has now taken over the reigns of the club and this will be his first game in charge officially.

Table position: 18th
Last result: 1-0 loss away to Siena
Top scorer - Vladimir Weiss (3 goals)

The Coach: Cristiano Bergodi



A former youth product of the Pescara, Bergodi played for them 97 times before moving to Lazio, where he turned out for them 160 times between 1989 and 1996, scoring 4 goals. He left for Padova and played there until 1999, leaving for Malta where he played for Sliema Wanderers, retiring in 2000. Now in charge of his boyhood club, Bergodi has a tall task of re-organizing this ailing side, who still has talented players on the roster such as former Roma youth products Alessandro Crescenzi and Gianluca Caprari, defensive standout Marco Capuano, and former Manchester City midfielder Vlad Weiss. He's got the players here to steady the ship and at least see Pescara out of the relegation zone with steady performances. Being a former defender, he will no doubt set about regimenting the backline and setting this side up to defend deeply and breaking on the counter, as is traditional for the smaller, provincial sides when they face a larger club.

The Captain: Emmanuel Cascione



Having been signed by West Ham at 17 as a promising youngster, nothing came of the move as Cascione failed to make a single appearance for the West London side in the 2 year stint and returned to Italy where he joined Serie B side Pistoiese, playing 76 times for them before moving on to Rimini and Reggina, also in Serie B. He joined Pescara in 2010 and has played 68 times for them so far. Being that this side is traditionally young and seen as a feeder club for most Serie A sides, Cascione has become captain by virtue of his experience in Serie B and this has proven a good move as he's able to provide a steady hand on the pitch for the precocious and impetuous talent around him in the side.

The Danger Man: Vladimir Weiss



Son of the the Slovakian National Team coach, also called Vladimir, young Weiss has proven himself a great talent having signed with Manchester City back in 2009. After appearing once for them, City loaned him out to Bolton Wanderers, Rangers, and Espanyol before eventually selling Weiss to Pescara where he is now the team's top scorer with 3 goals. A pacy winger with good crossing and passing ability, Weiss has began to add goals to his game, which will make him a real handful if given space and opportunity. At just 22, he will likely move to a larger side should he continue to develop and having already played 27 times for country, is set to be a fixture for Slovakia for years to come.

Objectives/Prediction

This will also be the first time in 19 years we have faced this club, with our last meeting ending in a 1-1 draw in the league. We have faced Pescara a grand total of 5 times since Roma was founded in 1927. Of those games, we have only won once, a 3-2 win back in 1979 with Carlo Ancelotti scoring the winner. The other matches ended in draws. We remain undefeated against Pescara in 4 meetings in the Coppa Italia.

That said, the task for this team is pretty simple. We need to come out on all cylinders and batter them with shots and attacking play, as is routine with a Zeman side. They have conceded 24 goals so far this season, 1 more than us so it will be paramount that we take our chances as it's going to be very clear that we will get them. Having conceded 23 goals ourselves, we need to make sure our defense remains tight as it was against Torino, who carried a much larger attacking threat.

I really want to avoid saying this game is already won, but football's a funny old game and that's why I like it. Nothing's ever a sure thing and especially as a Roma fan, nothing should be taken for granted.

3-1 Roma.

Pescara are in poor form and Roma should really win this. Clean sheet would be nice

3-0 Roma

Very scrappy win. Nice to see Destro taking his chances. With Lamela out, we're going to need him scoring goals like that.

That said, Pescara looked pretty organized under Bergodi and made us sweat and suffer quite a bit for this result. We were fortunate a few times to have still been up 1-0, but our failure to add to that tally is a bit worrying.

Next up is a trip away to Siena, who will carry a slightly more dangerous goal threat. It's nice that we can grind out results like this so I'm hoping for more of the same. Great to get 2 clean sheets back to back, especially for Goicoechea's confidence.

Scrappy win indeed but 3 points at the end of the day. Was actually not bad winning 1-0 lol

Quite a scrappy game. Pescara never threatened, aside from a couple half chances near the end of the match, largely thanks to the introduction of Weiss into the game. Zeman countered by uncharacteristically taking off two strikers for two midfielders, leaving Totti alone up front to shield the ball, being supported by mainly Perrotta.

Our attack was very frustrating to watch, probably more so than the match against Torino. Osvaldo had an off night, not linking up with anyone, we barely noticed his presence. Totti had a below par first half, aside from his free kicks which all caused problems. He stepped it up in the second half, thankfully, keeping Pescara pinned back. Destro showed grit and determination; a couple of missed touches and slips here and there, but he was the one who showed the most desire when going forward, as well as Pjanic who is striving to prove that he belongs in the starting 11. Bradley once again did well in front of the defense: I have him as one of the best players on the pitch, he put in some good passes and broke up potential Pescara counters with ease.

At the back, not much to say since we had an easier match at our hands. I was only concerned with Balzaretti, I expected more from him this season, he's going to have to step up.

Next match is away to Siena, a ground we always seem to have difficulty on. De Rossi will be serving his 3rd of his 3 match ban, so I think we're set to see the same midfield of Florenzi, Bradley and Pjanic. Destro is probably in line for another start, same goes for Totti. Osvaldo is the remaining doubt, Zeman might opt to put Marquinho up front to add a bit of pace and direct running. If not, we always have that Lopez card that we have yet to see since he scored in his debut.