Roma top after six games: title defence strong, attack misfiring | OneFootball

Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma is at the top of the table, sharing first place with reigning champions Napoli after six Serie A matches. It’s a start to the season that exceeds even the most optimistic expectations, the result of five wins and just one defeat, with a defensive solidity that today stands as the hallmark of the Giallorossi.

Roma, top of the table after six matches: championship-worthy defense, attack still to be found

To find a similar start, you have to go back more than ten years, precisely to the 2014/2015 season, when Rudi Garcia was on the Roma bench. Today, as then, Roma dreams big, but does so with a different formula: less spectacle, more substance.

Gasperini and the best start of his career

For Gian Piero Gasperini, this is the best start ever in Serie A. The coach has brought mentality, organization, and a tactical awareness that is bringing out the best in a squad built with balance.

The coach from Piedmont has instilled in his players the same aggressiveness that characterized his Atalanta, but with greater attention to the defensive phase. The result is clear for all to see: just two goals conceded in six matches, the best defense in the league.

The defense, the Giallorossi wall

The backline is the real strength of the new Roma. The Mancini–N’Dicka partnership is now a certainty: leadership, physicality, and established understanding. Alongside them, Gasperini is successfully integrating key players like Celik and Hermoso, who are able to provide both cover and attacking thrust down the flanks.

A defense that, in addition to withstanding the pressure of any opponent, is becoming the starting point for building attacks, thanks to playing out from the back and movements rehearsed in training.

Struggling attack: the numbers don’t lie

If the defense is flying, the attack remains the real puzzle for this Roma. With just 7 goals scored, the Giallorossi have the ninth-best attack in Serie A, a statistic that worries the coaching staff and could become a limitation in the medium term.

Dovbyk is showing signs of improvement but still struggles to finish, while Ferguson has yet to find the net. Two key players Gasperini is counting on, but who need to raise their level of effectiveness if Roma wants to stay at the top.

Soulé, the beacon of the attacking play

In this context, the name that shines brightest is Matias Soulé. With 3 goals and 2 assists in six matches, the Argentine has become the true offensive reference point for the team. Dribbling, vision, and the ability to create numerical superiority: Soulé is now the symbol of the new Roma, one that knows how to suffer but also how to strike when it counts.

Gasperini is using him as a free-roaming attacking midfielder, a role that allows him to showcase his creativity and make the most of the strikers’ off-the-ball movements.

Gasperini and the challenge of balance

The 2025/26 version of Roma lives on a delicate balance: the defensive compactness, Gasperini’s trademark, must coexist with the search for greater brilliance in attack. It’s a process still underway, but the coach is managing it with his usual tactical clarity.

His words after the win over Fiorentina confirm it: “We need to improve up front, but the foundation is solid. The team knows how to suffer and for me, that’s the first step to winning.”

Next challenge: Inter at the Olimpico

After the break, Roma will return to the pitch in a high-level test against Chivu’s Inter. A match that will say a lot about the Giallorossi’s real title ambitions. Confidence is high, the group is united, and Gasperini has finally built a Roma that is no longer content just to dream: it wants to stay on top.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.