Reports: Pellegrini & Belotti to Miss Sassuolo Match

With consecutive wins over Juventus in the league and Real Sociedad in the Europa League Round of 16, all is right in the Eternal City. However, Roma's recent run has come at a cost as club captain Lorenzo Pellegrini and striker Andrea Belotti will reportedly miss this weekend's league fixture against Sassuolo after suffering injuries in the club's 2-0 win over Sociedad in the first leg of yesterday's Europa League Round of 16.

According to Sky Sport, Pellegrini, who went down in the 60th minute after suffering a blow to the head, will not feature in Sunday's critical fixture against Sassuolo. While Pellegrini reportedly avoided a concussion, with 30 stitches required to close the wound on his head, the 26-year-old Roman midfielder won't be able to suit up against Sassuolo on Sunday. However, he is expected to return for next Thursday's return leg against Real Sociedad in San Sebastian, Spain.

Sky also provided an update on Belotti, who suffered an apparent hand injury in the second half of yesterday's victory over Sociedad. Specifically, Belotti fractured the fourth metacarpal bone in his right hand, an injury that will require surgical intervention. Although the injury sounds severe, since this is football we're talking about, Belotti isn't expected to miss much time, though he will likely miss Sunday's fixture.

While these injuries aren't expected to sideline Pellegrini or Belotti for an extended period, Roma has only managed one victory in their past six contests against Sassuolo, so the timing is far from ideal.

In their absence, look for José Mourinho to start Stephan El Shaarawy and Paulo Dybala directly behind Tammy Abraham in a 3-4-2-1 against the Neroverdi. With Belotti's exact return date up in the air, Mourinho will have to monitor Abraham's minutes carefully this weekend, so we may see Ola Solbakken get some run against Sassuolo on Sunday.

We'll pass along updates as they become available, but this could have been much worse from the sound of it.