Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti insists the derby with Lazio “will be played on equal terms”.
The teams meet in the Derby della Capitale after the international break, with the Giallorossi currently 18 points clear of their city rivals.
“The Derby cancels out everything else around us,” Spalletti told Roma TV.
“It will be played on equal terms, we’ll start from scratch and see who is best.
Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti insists the derby with Lazio “will be played on equal terms”.
The teams meet in the Derby della Capitale after the international break, with the Giallorossi currently 18 points clear of their city rivals.
“The Derby cancels out everything else around us,” Spalletti told Roma TV.
“It will be played on equal terms, we’ll start from scratch and see who is best.
“Form doesn’t count for anything, when you’re in good form it can cause you problems, this game clears everything.
“It’s an advantage for the team that’s struggling.”
Spalletti was then asked about Edin Dzeko, who he opted to leave on the bench against Inter.
“His movement at the far post? That changed the game, as others have said. The game changed because of the mentality of the squad too though.
“It was useful in terms of evaluating our plans and performances, because we hadn’t fallen behind before. The team always changes the game.
“We put him [Dzeko] on because of his physical attributes, and he gave us the contribution we were expecting.
“You can analyse the game after he came on, because we don’t have any other players with his characteristics.
“If he’d started the game he might have had a different effect, and if you find yourself with the same result but he’s on the pitch from the start it becomes more difficult to bring him in.
“Have I had other players like him? [Roberto] Sosa, [Carsten] Jancker, but he’s more mobile and technical, more of a dribbler.
“Dzeko is a player with a lot of quality for the physical attributes he has. He’s good in fast, technical football because you can play the ball to him quickly and build the game.”