Preview: Roma vs Atalanta BC - prediction, team news, lineups

Separated by four points in the Serie A standings, Roma and Atalanta BC will continue their quest for a Champions League place when they meet at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

While the hosts stayed in touch with Italy's elite by winning last week, La Dea lost to fellow challengers Juventus and are almost out of the race.

Match preview

With their top-four hopes hanging by a thread, Roma simply had to get back on track when they hosted Pisa in a Friday night contest, and new talisman Donyell Malen duly delivered.

His hat-trick secured a routine victory for the capital club, who posted their 11th home win from 16 league games at the Olimpico.

Having taken just four points from their previous five fixtures, the Giallorossi had been letting Champions League football slip through their grasp, but those hopes were revived by results last week.

Though Juventus moved up to fourth with a win, Como lost to Inter Milan in a seven-goal thriller; the trio are now covered by only three points, with Atalanta trailing behind.

However, the Giallorossi are still playing catch-up and have not produced consecutive league wins since January, while off-field matters have begun to dominate the headlines.

Internal strife between head coach Gian Piero Gasperini and director Claudio Ranieri - with the latter practically having royal status at the club after serving three successful spells in the dugout - may prove an unwelcome distraction.

Roma cannot afford to lose focus on Saturday, having won just one of their last 11 home matches against Atalanta, who also beat them 1-0 in this season's reverse fixture.

Atalanta really seem to have Roma's number, winning all of the last four league meetings - plus six of the last seven - though Gasperini was in charge for most of that period.

Another victory now is virtually essential, as they lag four points behind the Giallorossi with six games to play, and lie even further adrift of Juventus.

The two Champions League contenders locked horns last Saturday night, when Juve paid a visit to Bergamo and La Dea somehow ended up empty-handed.

Despite being the better side throughout, Raffaele Palladino's team were ultimately beaten 1-0, suffering just a second league defeat this calendar year.

As a result, they occupy seventh place and could be bound for the Conference League, depending on several other factors.

One is their Coppa Italia campaign, as a cup triumph would take them into next term's Europa League; after a 2-2 draw in Rome, the home leg of their semi-final against Lazio will be played next Wednesday.

First, the Bergamaschi must head south for a must-win Serie A clash, having won just five of 15 away games this season.

Roma Serie A form:

D L L W L W

Roma form (all competitions):

D L L W L W

Atalanta BC Serie A form:

L D D W W L

Atalanta BC form (all competitions):

L D L W W L

Team News

Though Roma will be missing injured midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini for at least three weeks, defensive rock Gianluca Mancini could be ready to return.

Now set to meet his old club, Gasperini continues to work with limited options, as Manu Kone and Wesley are still sitting alongside forward trio Paulo Dybala, Artem Dovbyk and Evan Ferguson in a packed treatment room at Trigoria.

More positively, Niccolo Pisilli should recover from a knock sustained in training, while Mario Hermoso remains short of full fitness but will be available to start.

After his heroics last week, Donyell Malen can look to increase a tally of 10 league goals since signing in January, while either Nikola Krstovic or Gianluca Scamacca should lead Atalanta's attack.

Incidentally, Krstovic (5.4) and Malen (4.5) are Serie A's top two when it comes to shots taken per 90 minutes this season.

As Scamacca was back on the bench against Juve, only Isak Hien, Kamaldeen Sulemana and reserve goalkeeper Francesco Rossi are unavailable for La Dea.

Roma possible starting lineup:

Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Hermoso; Celik, Cristante, El Aynaoui, Rensch; Soule, Pisilli; Malen

Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:

Carnesecchi; Scalvini, Djimsiti, Kolasinac; Zappacosta, De Roon, Ederson, Bernasconi; De Ketelaere, Zalewski; Krstovic