Ünder in Doubt for Bologna Match Saturday

We kicked off the weekend with a bit of a good news/bad news scenario regarding Cengiz Ünder’s injury situation. Hurt while on duty with the Turkish Nation Team, Ünder went down with what appeared to be a rather serious knee injury (he is a Roma player after all), but as we reported on Saturday, scans revealed that injury to be nothing more than a sprain, which, given the club’s recent history, was a minor miracle.

While it remains to be seen how Turkey handle’s Ünder’s tender knee this week (they have a match with Montenegro on Tuesday), Roma are preparing for life without Ünder as they get ready to take on Simone Verdi, Mattia Destro and the rest of Bologna on Saturday. As we discussed over the weekend, Ünder has become an indispensable part of Eusebio Di Francesco’s attack, tied with Gonzalo Higuain for the league lead in goals since the start of February.

If Ünder isn’t able give it a go this weekend, the most obvious candidate to fill his shoes would be Stephan El Shaarawy, whose 39th minute strike against Crotone delivered Roma’s fourth straight league victory. SES is prone to streakiness, and last week’s goal could be the start of another surge, but there remains a possibility, slim though it might be, that EDF could trot out Patrik Schick at right wing, because that’s worked so well throughout the year.

Whatever the case may be, Saturday’s match against Bologna should be, if nothing else, a testament to how incredible Ünder’s rise has been, and who knows, maybe he makes a miraculous recovery and is able to go. Tis’ the season for resurrections after all.