“It will definitely be one or the other (a back three and two strikers behind Artem Dovbyk or an additional midfielder in a back four).”

That’s how Claudio Ranieri’s pre-match press statement began on Saturday when asked about his line-up. So with Ranieri not giving away any clues, the consensus seems to be split on how the Tinkerman will line up his team against red-hot Atalanta on Monday.

However, the Giallorossi play a much more positive game against Spurs with a back three in London on Thursday than they did with a back four in Naples, so we’re leaning towards the former here.

During his press conference, Ranieri spoke about the roles of many of his players, including the minutes Paulo Dybala can provide.

“I assess Dybala from one training session to the next. We know that he may encounter certain problems and I must try to prevent them. I substituted him against Tottenham because I needed another player to apply pressure and eliminate the opponents in the penalty area. I have no problem saying that when he turned the ball on, he did fantastic things, like that ball for (Stephan) El Shaarawy for the goal, whose shot was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper. He didn’t do the great things that he can do, but he gave me a lot of running and pressing, so I have to weigh everything carefully every time.”

He also spoke about his struggling captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, who is expected to regain his starting place in this game.

“As for Lorenzo, I told him, ‘You’re running around like crazy.’ You feel the pressure. I want you to have fun. Now we switch off, reset and you will see that you become the midfielder I know again.”

“I had two great goal-scoring midfielders in my career. One is (Frank) Lampard and the other is Pellegrini. He gets a lot of criticism, but how many midfielders score as many goals as Pellegrini? My job at the moment is to help Roma. And when I helped Roma, I was very clear with Lorenzo and told him: ‘Lorenzo, this is my plan.'”

“It depends on when we switch on again. In football you never know how long something like this will last. I can tell you that he started scoring goals in training and that he is hitting the target more often than when I arrived. I don’t know how long it will take. You can tell that a striker is in shape because when he shoots, he always hits the target. If he’s not in shape, he’ll miss the target. Now his shots always hit the target. He scores. He has started the reset process he needs. He is a very sensitive boy, very introverted, and the situation affects him more than others.

“I read somewhere that he was supposedly responsible for (Daniele) De Rossi being sacked. There is no truth in that. None at all. The fans should know this. It wasn’t (Gianluca) Mancini, (Bryan) Cristante or Pellegrini who fired Daniele. On the contrary, they did everything they could to keep him. People need to know the truth.”

This duo is expected to support Artem Dovbyk, who has scored just once in his last eight games for the Giallorossi – a far cry from his Capcannoniere Season with Girona in La Liga. Ranieri commented on his role and his current goalscoring difficulties.

“I told Dovbyk never to run back, but then in the second half he incredibly won the ball and stopped a counter-attack. If he does that once, I’m happy with him, but he shouldn’t always chase his opponents back.

“Both (a physical and a team problem). In Ukraine he had these little problems, a knee problem that he doesn’t have anymore. We know what kind of service he needs, but we don’t help him. I spoke to the team, showed them videos and we have to help him because he is our goalscorer. We can’t put pressure on him, but we have to give him the kind of performances that a striker like him needs.”

The only one in central midfield seems to be Manu Koné, who continues to impress even if the rest of the team is struggling. However, his partner appears to be a toss-up between Bryan Cristante and Leandro Paredes, who received rave reviews against Spurs.

If Roma actually stays in the back three, then it can be expected that Thursday’s goalscorers, Mats Hummels and Evan Ndicka, will again be supported by Gianluca Mancini. Meanwhile, Angeliño keeps his place on the left. But Zeki Çelik appears to be under pressure on the right with recently returned Alexis Saelemaekers, who has been praised by Ranieri, applying pressure.

“As a coach you are always looking for players who can play in different positions. I spoke to him (Saelmaekers) and he really likes playing high on the left but can also play on the other side. I see him more as an attacking player, but he also has to switch to defense.

“Saelemaekers is back and doesn’t have 90 minutes to play, but you could see the energy he exuded in the tackles. He played the decisive pass to Angeliño.”

The line-up is of course rounded off by the ever-present and invaluable Mile Svilar between the posts.

ROMA (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Koné, Cristante, Angeliño; Dybala, Pellegrini; Dovbyk.