Gasperini explains Roma changes and gives fitness updates

Gian Piero Gasperini explains why he made such radical changes to the Roma attack against Sassuolo, including fitness updates on Matias Soulé and Evan Ferguson.

It kicks off at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia at 14.00 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from all today’s Serie A games on the Liveblog.

Soulé had originally been mentioned in the starting XI released to the media, but was then replaced in the official line-up by Manu Koné, moving Neil El Aynaoui into a more advanced role.

This is the first time that the Argentine talent has been left on the bench this season, so what prompted that decision?

“We play very often, and Soulé had practically not missed a minute yet. We start like this, I hope he can be a valuable resource off the bench,” Gasperini told DAZN.

Paulo Dybala is again used as a False 9, even though it has had extremely limited results so far, as Ferguson and Artem Dovbyk continue to struggle with one goal between them.

Following Thursday’s 2-1 Europa League defeat to Viktoria Plzen, Gasperini said that he had only just seen the first “real training session” from Ferguson, so what did that mean?

“He needs to be an important factor for the future. It was his first really hard working session, but unfortunately he also got a knock to the ankle and he’s on the bench today, but I’m not sure if he can play.”

A victory here would send Roma joint top of the Serie A table alongside Napoli, who beat Inter 3-1 last night.

“We all know the situation, but it’s quite early to start looking at the table. We need to focus our attention on Sassuolo, who are a newly promoted side, but getting good results already. We just need to concentrate on this game and getting the result we want today,” concluded Gasperini.

It is remarkable that Roma always saw the Stadio Olimpico as their fortress in previous years, but all four of their defeats in Serie A and the Europa League this season have been home fixtures.