Serie A: Roma vs Como! Sacrificing offense for defense? Why is Roma so timid against stronger teams?

Let's start with today's first topicSerie A: Roma vs Como!

Roma is now fourth in Serie A, which seems quite good,better than their final rankings over the last seven seasons.

However, the problems they have shown are quite significant.

On the surface, Roma has two main characteristics:an exceptionally strong defense but also a tendency to be timid against stronger teams.

How good is their defense?

They have conceded the fewest goals in Serie A,which is definitely impressive.

And about being timid against stronger teams?

It means thatwhenever they face teams with higher market value, they lose every timewithout earning a single point, without exception.

Actually, although Roma loses to strong teams, their defense remains solid,conceding only one goal in each of those three losses.

The key reason for these defeats is their inability to scoreas they were completely shut out by their opponents.

This leads to a deeper problem for Roma —sacrificing offense for defense.

In 2025, relying solely on parking the bus and defending is impossible to achieve the best defense in Serie A; pressing and aggressive tackling are necessary to disrupt the opponent's attack.

Roma’s pressing is very intense, with a PPDA of 9.8, ranking second in Serie A.

They usually play a three-center-back formation, with high-quality defenders by Serie A standards, combined with fierce pressing, making it naturally hard for opponents to score.

But what is the cost?

The attackers’ stamina is heavily drained by the high pressing.

Younger players can handle it, but older ones struggle.

So we see that among Roma’s six forwards,four are aged 28 or older, and together they played 32 Serie A matches but scored only 3 goalswhich is really too few.

This performance is far weaker than last season’s; for example, Dovbik also played 32 Serie A matches last season, scoring 12 goals and providing 3 assists, which is much better.

With weak attackers, the data shows Roma’s xG and chance creation stats are very poor.

For instance, in these 14 Serie A matches, they have created only 24 clear chances, the second fewest in the league.

Note: creating few chances is one thing.

But when given rare opportunities, their finishing is especially poor.

Currently, their average xG per game is 1.54, but they only score 1.07 goals per match, 0.47 less than expected, which is tied for the third worst in Serie Aonly Parma and Verona, teams fighting relegation, have worse stats.

So although their defense is the best in Serie A, their offense severely lags behind.

Here is another point:Como is also a team with a very strong defense.

They have conceded 11 goals so far, the second fewest in Serie A, and their expected goals conceded ranks third lowest, showing their defense is genuinely strong without any tricks.

With Roma’s poor attack... it’s likely to be a very tough match.

The key is that Roma also had an extra European match on the 12th, which affects their stamina.

In their starting lineup, seven players are regular startersincluding top scorer Sule and the only fit specialist striker Ferguson, so their energy will be somewhat drained.

Given that forwards already struggle due to the heavy pressing workload, will their performance worsen with fatigue?

So, can Como satisfy their fans? What do you think? I hope they can at least avoid defeat.

Alright, for today’s other matches, I will still send my written opinions tonight. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. Let’s watch and understand the game together, see you there!

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