Roma Turns to Youth for Udinese Trip Amid Injuries
Gian Piero Gasperini will lean heavily on Roma’s next generation this weekend, taking five teenagers to Udine as the unbeaten Giallorossi look to keep their Serie A run alive without several of their biggest names.
The injury list is brutal. Paulo Dybala is out. Manu Kone is out. First-choice goalkeeper Mile Svilar is missing. Captain Lorenzo Pellegrini will not travel either for Saturday’s clash at the Dacia Arena.
Yet Gasperini has not trimmed his ambition. He has widened the door.
Gollini in goal, kids on the bench
With Svilar sidelined, Pierluigi Gollini is set to stay between the posts after stepping in as Roma’s No. 1. Behind him, the bench tells the real story of this squad: Devis Vasquez and 19-year-old Giorgio De Marzi provide the cover, one experienced understudy and one teenager stepping into the matchday spotlight.
Across the pitch, Roma’s bench will have the feel of a Primavera roll call. Emanuele Lulli, 19, travels as a fully-fledged first-team option now, not just a prospect. The wing-back has scored in each of his last two Serie A appearances and celebrated his latest goal at the Stadio Olimpico against Cagliari like a player who intends to stay. Gasperini clearly took note.
Alongside him come Rodrigo Mora, another 19-year-old summer signing, and academy products Alessandro Di Nunzio (19) and Mandjou Camara (17). For Di Nunzio and Camara in particular, this is the kind of away trip that can accelerate a career: hostile atmosphere, points on the line, coach willing to trust youth if the game demands it.
Unbeaten Roma, desperate Udinese
Roma arrive with momentum and a target on their back. After nine league matches of the 2026-27 campaign, they are one of only three teams still unbeaten in Serie A. Their most recent outing, a 4-2 win over Cagliari in Rome earlier this week, underlined the attacking edge Gasperini has injected into this side. They concede chances, but they overwhelm you going the other way.
Udinese are living a very different reality. Six straight defeats under Kosta Runjaic have left them clinging to safety, just above the relegation zone on five points. Confidence is fragile, the margins thin. This is the kind of game that can either steady a season or drag a club deeper into trouble.
That contrast sets the stage. An injury-hit giant leaning on its academy. A wounded opponent desperate to stop the slide.
The squad in full
Gasperini’s 22-man group for the trip to Udine:
- Goalkeepers: Devis Vasquez, Giorgio De Marzi, Pierluigi Gollini
- Defenders: Devyne Rensch, Konstantinos Koulierakis, Evan Ndicka, Nahuel Molina, Mario Hermoso, Gianluca Mancini, Leonardo Balerdi, Wesley Franca, Emanuele Lulli, Daniele Ghilardi
- Midfielders: Bryan Cristante, Marten De Roon, Niccolo Pisilli, Alessandro Di Nunzio, Rodrigo Mora
Roma’s unbeaten record is on the line. So is Udinese’s patience. And somewhere in that tension, one of those teenagers may find their first real moment in Serie A.
