Roma square off against Crotone at Stadio Ezio Scida on Wednesday afternoon sitting in third position in the Serie A standings.
Meanwhile, the home side are two points adrift at the bottom of the table after succumbing to a 6-2 defeat at Inter Milan on Sunday.
Match preview
© Reuters
Roma have been far from their best in recent games, their latest two victories coming by one-goal margins after a heavy defeat to Atalanta BC.
However, the 1-0 victory win over Sampdoria at the weekend has moved Paulo Fonseca's team into third spot, keeping them seven points adrift of leaders AC Milan.
Sitting ahead of champions Juventus at this stage of the season, Fonseca can have few complaints with his team's form, but he will want to see his players make games far easier.
During home fixtures with Cagliari and Sampdoria, they remained on level terms with their opponents in the 70th minute before goals were found during the latter stages.
Veteran forward Edin Dzeko netted on both occasions, extending his scoring streak in Italy's top flight to three games.
Opponents Crotone have improved over the past month with seven points being collected from their last five outings.
Nevertheless, the promoted side remain at the bottom of the table after conceding six goals versus Inter at San Siro.
Giovanni Stroppa's team had been on level terms at half time before four strikes were shipped during a 30-minute period after the break.
While Stroppa will take the positives from the performance as a whole, facing an in-form Roma side has not come at the right time for I Pitagorici.
Crotone Serie A form: LWDLWL
Roma Serie A form: DWWLWW
Roma form (all competitions): LWWLWW
Team News
© Reuters
With Inter Milan to come at the weekend, Fonseca could take the opportunity to make a number of changes to his Roma side.
Borja Mayoral may get the nod over Dzeko, while Marash Kumbulla and Bryan Cristante will also be confident of earning a recall to the team.
Having taken the chance to rest players during the closing half-hour against Inter, Stroppa could potentially retain the same starting XI.
Simy, who has four goals to his name this season, will hope for a recall to the team after only featuring as a substitute at San Siro.
Crotone possible starting lineup:
Cordaz; Golemic, Marrone, Luperto; Pereira, Molina, Zanellato, Henrique, Reca; Simy, Messias
Roma possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Mancini, Smalling, Kumbulla; Karsdorp, Cristante, Veretout, Peres; Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan; Mayoral
We say: Crotone 1-3 Roma
After their latest heavy defeat, Crotone will be prioritising a much-improved defensive performance in this match. However, that may allow Roma to seize the initiative before recording a relatively comfortable win on their travels.
