Roma v Inter: unbeaten starts set up major Serie A test at Stadio Olimpico

Roma and Inter meet at the Stadio Olimpico on 19 September 2026, with both clubs defending perfect records after four Serie A matches. The game is scheduled for 16:00 GMT, with Mahamad Sangare, presenter of the sports debate programme La VAR on Burkina info TV, providing his analysis and predictions.

Roma have won their first four home league matches and arrive in strong form under Gian Piero Gasperini. Their last five games in all competitions have brought four victories and a draw, including a 1-1 result away to Fenerbahce in the Champions League and a 2-0 win at Torino.

Inter have also won four of their past five matches, with their only defeat coming against Real Madrid in the Champions League. They have beaten Monza, Cagliari, Napoli and Udinese in Serie A, scoring 13 goals under Cristian Chivu. However, their 5-3 victory over Udinese exposed defensive weaknesses.

Inter won the previous meeting 5-2 on 5 April 2026 and have dominated the recent head-to-head record, recording six victories to Roma’s two in the past five years, with no draws. Roma have not beaten Inter at the Stadio Olimpico in Serie A since 2016.

Roma remain without playmaker Pellegrini, who has been sidelined since the start of the season, but have no other reported absentees. Soule, who has scored two goals and provided one assist in Serie A, and Dybala, with four assists, were decisive in the recent victory over Atalanta. Malen, who has five league goals, and Rodrigo Mora are also candidates to start.

Malen joined permanently from Aston Villa after scoring 14 goals in 18 Serie A appearances, while defender Ghilardi was signed from Hellas Verone. Roma also recruited Molina from Atletico Madrid, Balerdi from OM, Koulierakis from Wolfsburg, De Roon from Atalanta, Castro from Bologne and Rodrigo Mora from Porto. Celik, Angelino, El Aynaoui, El Shaarawy, Dovbyk and Robinho Vaz departed, while Zaragoza and Ferguson returned to Bayern Munich and Brighton respectively.

For Inter, Federico Dimarco has recovered from injury, while Djed Spence remains unavailable. Andy Diouf, now operating as a right wing-back, has two Serie A assists. Lautaro Martinez has scored twice in the league, Francesco Pio Esposito has one goal and one assist, and Marcus Thuram returned to the starting line-up this week after scoring once in Serie A.

Inter lost Denzel Dumfries to Real Madrid, while Francesco Acerbi, Stefan de Vrij, Matteo Darmian and goalkeeper Yann Sommer also left. Davide Frattesi joined Lazio and Kristjan Asllani moved to Al-Jazira. Manuel Akanji signed permanently from Manchester City, with Ivan Provedel, John Stones, Djed Spence, Aleksandar Stankovic and Curtis Jones, from Liverpool, also arriving.

The prediction model gives Inter a narrow 37% chance of victory. Statistical options include an Inter win at 2.669, Inter or draw at 1.501, both teams to score at 1.49, more than 2.5 goals at 1.686 and more than 7.5 corners at 1.35. Lautaro Martinez is priced at 2.50 to score at any time, while a 1-2 result is rated at 8.5. Odds may change.