Roma vs Frosinone

Roma and Frosinone are set to lock horns at the Stadio Olimpico in a potentially season-defining Serie A fixture for the home side.

Being a Roma fan these days isn’t a pleasant thing after a 4-1 rout at newly-promoted Genoa in midweek Serie A action condemned ‘I Giallorossi’ to their joint-worst six-game start to a top-flight campaign in the three-points-per-win era (5 – W1, D2, L3). It’s also Jose Mourinho’s worst-ever start to a new season during his trophy-laden managerial career, casting doubt on his capacity to turn his side’s fortunes around. While only pacesetters Inter Milan (15) boasted a better scoring record than Roma (13) ahead of this round, the hosts’ defensive woes are a reason for concern. Despite Mourinho’s reputation as a defensive-minded coach, his men have conceded a league second-high 11 goals thus far, capitulating multiple times in four of their six Serie A matches in 2023/24.

On the other hand, newly-promoted Frosinone won’t be fazed by their opposition’s stature after ex-Roma boss Eusebio Di Francesco masterminded an impressive top-flight return for ‘I Canari.’ Since a 3-1 home defeat to reigning champions Napoli on the opening weekend, the visitors have gone unbeaten in all five league games (W2, D3), including a 1-1 home draw against Fiorentina in midweek. No strangers to pulling off upsets, they’ve already toppled Atalanta and Sassuolo this season, overturning an early 2-0 deficit to beat the latter 4-2 on home turf. Di Francesco can pour misery on another one of his former employers, having taken charge of 87 Roma matches. However, he’s encountered little luck against them as a foe, going winless in all ten previous managerial H2Hs with three different teams (D3, L7).