Napoli vs. Roma: Preview & Predicted Lineups

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·28 April 2024

Napoli vs. Roma: Preview & Predicted Lineups

It’s another edition of the Derby del Sole on Sunday as Roma travel to Campania to face-off against Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Both teams are coming into the clash with extra motivation, hoping to secure all three points and make a late surge as they push to finish in a European place.

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The match is scheduled to get underway at 18.00 CET on Sunday evening at the Stadio Diego Armamda Maradona in Napoli.

Roma

Roma bounced back from last weekend’s setback against Bologna to secure a crucial late victory midweek over Udinese. Bryan Cristante’s 95th minute goal earn the capital club an important win in their quest for a Champions League place finish.

The win gives the Giallorossi a boost as they continue their difficult yet important final leg of the season. Beginning with Napoli, the capital club face a gauntlet of games that includes showdowns against Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen, and Atalanta.

“The most difficult aspect of this part of the season is the number of games to be played in such a short amount of time,” De Rossi admitted during an appearance on Roma TV.

“All the teams we will face are of a very high level, fresh forces would be needed at times, but in most cases the others also have other commitments. It will be difficult but let’s not feel sorry for ourselves. Napoli is the only team that is close to Inter in terms of level, they were unplayable last year. They’ve faced problems this year, but they’re always a difficult team to beat.”

He continued, “I came here three months ago if you had told me that I would be fifth now with 4 points over Atalanta and 6 from Lazio I would have signed up given where we started.”

De Rossi was given a boost coming into the game and confirmed defender Evan Ndicka will start for the first time since his scary chest injury earlier this month. However, he’ll be without two of his key pieces with striker Romelu Lukaku still injured and Leandro Paredes suspended.

Sardar Azmoun and Edoardo Bove are most likely to replace the pair while Zeki Celik is favored to start at right back over Rick Karsdorp.

Napoli

The defending champions, meanwhile, are running out of time to salvage something from their nightmare campaign. Following their Scudetto triumph, few would’ve predicted Napoli to freefall as they have this season.

The Partenopei have rarely shown glimpses of last year’s title winning-form and have been plagued by lacklustre performances, poor managerial choices, and horrific defending. They enter Sunday’s clash with just 1 win in their least 6 games in Serie A as their season-long struggles have continued under interim manager Francesco Calzona.

Despite their struggles, they still find themselves in the race for a European position but know they can’t afford any additional slip ups.

“Our defeat to Empoli highlighted various problems and that was a worry for me. We’ve wasted numerous opportunities to get into mix for the Champions League spots but it’s pointless to dwell on the maths,” Calzona stated during his pre-match press conference.

“There’s no point looking at the permutations now. “We just have to take each game as it comes – starting with a big performance against Roma. We need an all-round performance, both with and without the ball. I hope to see the team play well tactically but also with character.”

Adding, “Of course I didn’t expect to have this many problems when I joined but I realised the problems were bigger than I thought after a few days here. The players must take responsibility for the situation we’re in – we all have to. I try to give everyone chances and I pick the team based on what I see on the training ground and then in matches.”

Calzona will have additional defensive options available against Roma with Amir Rrahmani and Mario Rui both available after their one-match bans. However, midfielder Piotr Zielinski and Mathías Olivera miss out due to injury.