Roma need to start 2023 on the right foot after losing momentum, so look to Paulo Dybala, False 9 Nicolò Zaniolo and youth player Benjamin Tahirovic against Marko Arnautovic’s Bologna.
It kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico at 15.30 GMT.
This will be an emotional occasion, as it’s Bologna’s first competitive match since the death of their former coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, who also spent time as a player with Roma.
It is also a reunion between Jose Mourinho and his Inter midfielder Thiago Motta, as they won the Treble together in 2010, but it won’t be on the touchline because the Special One is suspended.
The Giallorossi ended 2022 in poor form with just two points from three rounds and an ugly row between Mourinho and Rick Karsdorp.
The good news is the return of Dybala, who cut his vacation short after Argentina won the World Cup in Qatar, is ready to start with Lorenzo Pellegrini behind False 9 Zaniolo.
That means Tammy Abraham is dropped and 19-year-old Tahirovic given his first start in midfield.
New signing Ola Solbakken is on the bench, with only Georginio Wijnaldum and Ebrima Darboe injured.
Bologna are missing Joshua Zirkzee, Musa Barrow, Lorenzo De Silvestri and Kevin Bonifazi, so Arnautovic leads the attack with support from Riccardo Orsolini and Roberto Soriano.
Roma: Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Celik, Cristante, Tahirovic, El Shaarawy; Dybala, Pellegrini; Zaniolo
Bologna: Skorupski; Posch, Soumaoro, Lucumi, Lykogiannis; Medel, Ferguson; Orsolini, Dominguez, Soriano; Arnautovic