Lorenzo Pellegrini revealed Roma are determined to build on their strong start under Gian Piero Gasperini as they prepare to face Udinese at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma entered the weekend fourth in Serie A, but just one point behind league leaders Napoli, as they continued their momentum with a 2-0 win against Rangers in the Europa League.

Pellegrini struggled to find his place in the squad at the start of the season, but the midfielder has featured regularly after scoring the winner against rivals Lazio towards the end of September.

Roma are looking to bounce back from their league defeat against AC Milan last time out, but Pellegrini insisted their main goal is to continue improving under Gasperini, whom he is delighted to be playing under.

"It was difficult at the start, as I was coming off an injury and missing match fitness, but from the derby onwards I had that consistency that I really wanted," Pellegrini told Sky Sport Italia.

"Now I feel good physically, whether I come off the bench or start matches. I'm very happy, because it was a difficult summer on a psychological level, too.

"The coach is very demanding, but he knows the right buttons to press. As a player and as a fan, I am very happy that he is the coach of Roma.

"I think it is still early days, but what we must appreciate is the continual improvement of this team. We had results at the start of the season, but without the same determination and visible improvements that we saw today.

"The objective now is to keep improving, and soon our real strength will be clear for us as well as everyone else."

Wins over Atalanta and Lecce, either side of a defeat to Juventus, see Udinese sit ninth in Serie A and just three points off the European places after 10 matches.

They have won twice, drawn twice and lost twice in their last six league matches, but have also picked up a win against Inter at the San Siro earlier in the campaign.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Roma – Artem Dovbyk

Artem Dovbyk scored in each of his two Serie A matches against Udinese last season, scoring the decisive penalty in Roma's victory in the most recent one (2-1 on January 26, 2025), one of his two spot-kicks in Serie A. 

The Friulian side could become his all-time favourite target in the Italian league – he has also scored twice against Genoa, Verona, and Parma.

Udinese – Nicolo Zaniolo

Nicolo Zaniolo – who made his first 94 Serie A appearances for Roma, with 13 goals and six assists between 2018 and 2023 – has scored in consecutive appearances and could equal his best scoring streak across Europe's top five leagues and the Super Lig, scoring in three in a row in October and November 2019 for Roma.

In his two Serie A matches against Roma so far, he has scored one goal for Atalanta and received one red card for Fiorentina.

MATCH PREDICTION – ROMA WIN

Roma have won 14 of their last 16 home games against Udinese in Serie A (L2), and since the 2009-10 season, they have beaten the Friuli side more than any other team at home in the league.

Gasperini's side have conceded just five goals in Serie A this season – only Arsenal (three) and Bayern Munich (four) have conceded fewer across Europe's top five leagues this term.

Udinese have conceded at least two goals in each of their last five Serie A matches against Roma and have lost all five. The Friulian side have never conceded more than one goal against Roma in six consecutive matches in the competition, also doing so between 1956 and 1958.

However, Udinese have picked up at least 15 points from their first 10 Serie A games in each of their last two campaigns (16 in 2024-25 and 15 in 2025-26), as many times as they had in their previous 12 seasons at this stage of the competition combined (16 in 2014-15 and 21 in 2022-23).

But Roma have not lost two consecutive Serie A matches since November-December 2024, a run which also coincided with the last time they failed to score in two successive games in the competition.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Roma – 58.9%

Draw – 22.7%

Udinese – 18.4%