The Serie A brings football fans another top four clash this week as Napoli host Roma.
Both teams will come looking for a win after struggling in their last respective matches in the league and with Juventus also in form and biting at the heels of the table’s summit.
Napoli come into this match after a disappointing loss to Bologna. After an extremely poor performance in the first 60 minutes Napoli decided to show up late with two quick goals, however, it was not enough. They did turn their form around in the Europa League though, with a different team still managing to put five goals past Legia Warsaw to cap-off the group stages without dropping a point and a +19 goal difference from six games.
Roma will be looking to kick-start their halted campaign after a string of dropped points and missed opportunities. They have not won a game since the 9th of November and that included their big 6-1 Champions League loss to Barcelona. They have managed to scrape through the group stage due to the rules about performances against level teams.
Key Battle – Kostas Manolas vs Gonzalo Higuain
If Roma learned anything from Napoli’s loss to Bologna, it is the need to tightly mark Gonzalo Higuain. Bologna did a great job of it for 85 minutes, but then thought the match was in the bag and the Argentine made them pay.
The tight defence on Higuain does not allow him the space to play and since Napoli utilise a sole striker, the opposition team can afford to man mark the forward. Of course they need to keep in mind the threat the Napoli have on the wing as well.
But keeping Higuain scoreless should be a priority for Roma, considering that he has scored in eight of his last nine games for Napoli, an incredible statistic.
Team News
Maurizio Sarri’s men are effectively unchanged even after their Europa League clash. Manolo Gabbiadini is still expected to be out at this stage.
Roma, as it is well noted, are struggling with injuries at the moment, although Mohammed Salah is set to return and although Gervinho was ready to feature for Roma’s Champions League match, he pulled out after the warm-up.
Expected Napoli XI (4-3-2-1) – Reina, Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam, Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik ©, Insigne, Callejon, Higuain
Expected Roma XI (4-3-3) – Szczesny, Ruediger, Digne, Florenzi, Manolas, Nainggolan, Pjanic, De Rossi, Iturbe, Dzeko, Falque
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Head-to-head
From the last 32 matches Napoli has won eight, there has been eight draws and there have been 16 wins to Roma. This dates back to the mid-90’s in which Roma were more dominate over Napoli, however, in recent years the Azzurri have won three of the last four meetings.
Prediction
Although this game has a potential to be greatfor all, Roma with their injury and form issues will struggle, particularly against a Napoli team at home who have been tough to beat.
Napoli 2 Roma 0
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