With Roma closing the 2020-21 campaign at Spezia on Sunday (kick-off: 20:45 CEST), we have all the pre-match preamble you need...

SPEZIA

League position: 15th
Head coach: Vincenzo Italiano
Serie A top-scorer: M’bala Nzola (11)

RECENT FORM

Spezia: L D L D W
Roma: L W W L W

Spezia ended a run of six games without a win (D3, L3) courtesy of a 4-1 victory at Torino last time out that secured their top-flight status for another season.

That means 2020-21 will be deemed a successful year for Italiano’s side when they reflect on a first Serie A campaign in the club’s history.

As for the Giallorossi, they will have been bouncing this week after their statement Derby della Capitale glory last weekend as Portuguese tactician Paulo Fonseca prepares to take charge for the final time.

His countryman, Jose Mourinho, steps into the Stadio Olimpico dugout in 2021-22, and the outgoing Roma boss - whose side sit seventh, and are two points clear of Sassuolo in eighth - will want to secure European football for his compatriot next year, in the UEFA Europa Conference League's inaugural campaign.

LAST MEETING

DANGER MAN
M'bala Nzola

Angola international Nzola has had a superb first season in Serie A, topping his side’s scoring charts with 11 league goals.

The 24-year-old did, however, go 10 games without finding the back of the net prior to his double in the win over Torino.

That was Nzola’s third brace of the campaign and was a timely reminder of his predatory instincts as he helped confirm Spezia’s place in Serie A for another year.

Nzola missed both the league and cup meetings between these two teams in 2020-21 and will feature against Roma for the first time in his career - if selected - on Sunday.

MATCH STATS

The reverse fixture (a 4-3 Giallorossi win at the Olimpico) was the only Serie A outing in which Spezia have lost having scored more than one goal.

Roma are unbeaten in seven of their last eight away games in Italy’s top-tier against Ligurian sides (W3, D4, L1).

Spezia haven’t repeated the same result twice across any of their last 16 league games.

The Liguri have also scored the fewest goals in the first 15 minutes after half-time in Serie A this season (four) and are the team that have conceded the most during the same period (19).

PLAYER STATS

• Nzola is the first player since Domenico Berardi (16) in 2013-14 to score 11 or more goals in their debut season in Serie A for a newly promoted team.
  
• Henrikh Mkhitaryan (12 goals, 10 assists) could become the third Roma player in the last 15 campaigns to both score and provide more than 10 goals in a single Italian top-flight campaign.
  
• Mohamed Salah (15 goals, 11 assists in 2016/17) and Francesco Totti (12 goals, 12 assists in 2012-13) were the last players to do so.
  
• Edin Dzeko has provided an assist in each of his last two league appearances (both for Mkhitaryan goals).

WHAT THEY SAID

“The promotion was not planned. Reaching safety was unexpected and is worth double because it was conquered in critical conditions with a very young team.”

- Spezia coach Vincenzo Italiano