Roma and Inter meet at the Olimpico with the early shape of the Serie A season already at stake: both sides have taken 12 points from their opening four matches, leaving Saturday’s 18:00 contest as a direct contest for first place before the international break.
The match will also be played under the shadow of Sandro Mazzola’s death. A minute’s silence will be held before kick-off in tribute to the former Inter icon and one of Italian football’s defining figures.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma arrive after an away win over Torino, coached by Ignazio Abate. Cristian Chivu’s Inter, meanwhile, produced another recovery at San Siro against Udinese: having fallen two goals behind, the Nerazzurri responded with five goals against Kosta Runjaic’s side.
A test of the early leaders
There is still much of the campaign to play, but this meeting offers a first major measure of two teams who have set the pace from the outset. Roma have made a perfect opening under Gasperini, while Inter have matched them point for point despite the turbulence of their latest league outing.
Davide Massa of the Imperia section will referee the fifth-round fixture. Neither club has a suspended player listed for the game, while Roma have no absences reported. Inter will be without Hakan Calhanoglu, Spence and Stones.
Expected line-ups
Roma
Gasperini is expected to select Svilar in goal, behind a back three of Mancini, N’Dicka and Hermoso. Lulli, Cristante, Koné and Wesley are set to form the midfield line, with Soulé operating behind Dybala and Malen.
Roma’s available substitutes are Gollini, De Marzi, Rensch, Koulierakis, Balerdi, Ghilardi, Molina, De Roon, Pisilli, Pellegrini, Mora and Castro.
Inter
Chivu’s probable Inter team has J. Martinez in goal, with Bisseck, Akanji and Bastoni in defence. Diouf, Barella, Zielinski, Jones and Dimarco are expected in midfield, while Lautaro Martinez and M. Thuram lead the attack.
Inter can call on Provedel, Di Gennaro, Pavard, Sucic, Mkhitaryan, Stankovic, Carlos Augusto, Luis Henrique, Bonny and P. Esposito from the bench.
How to follow the match
Roma v Inter will be shown live exclusively on DAZN for subscribers, both on television-enabled devices and through the platform’s streaming service for phones, tablets and web access.
