Napoli vs Roma Preview – Prediction, how to watch & potential line-ups | OneFootball

Sunday’s Serie A action rounds off with a heavyweight contest at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as Napoli and Roma face each other in a top-four six-pointer.

Despite opening the new calendar year with a 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan, Luciano Spalletti’s men have gone from strength to strength in the aftermath, racking up three consecutive league wins.

Even without talismanic forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Napoli scored on either side of half-time on last weekend’s trip to meet fellow Campanian rivals Salernitana to register a clear-cut 2-0 win and go 12 points clear at the top.

The Partenopei return to Naples for the first time since an underwhelming Coppa Italia exit to Serie A whipping boys Cremonese but are keen to build on a 5-1 demolition of Juventus in their last home league outing.

Not many Italian teams can go toe-to-toe with Napoli, but if there’s a side able to stop Spalletti’s high-flyings in their tracks, it could be Jose Mourinho’s Roma.

Following a late comeback in a 2-2 draw at reigning champions AC Milan, the Giallorossi have strung together back-to-back 2-0 wins over Spezia and Fiorentina to move within one point of the second-placed Rossoneri.

Seeking their first Champions League appearance since 2017/18, the visitors can draw confidence from a near-perfect start to the new calendar year (W4, D1), all competitions-wise.

Match Preview

Napoli

Napoli have been nothing short of impressive at the Maradona this term, as they come into this matchday as one of only two sides yet to lose at home, boasting a league-high 26 goals in the process.

Except for a disappointing 1-1 draw with promoted Lecce in August, they’ve won their remaining eight home league games, including the last seven in a row.

Adding to Napoli’s confidence, they’ve suffered just one defeat across their last nine encounters against Roma in Serie A (W5, D3), though they did draw 1-1 in this corresponding fixture in 2021/22.

Roma

Roma’s water-tight backline has a lot of merits for their fantastic start to 2023, with only two clubs in Europe’s top-five leagues holding more clean sheets than the Giallorossi since the turn of the year (four).

On top of that, Mourinho has turned his team into a formidable rival on the road, with his charges losing only one of their ten Serie A matches on hostile turf this season (W6, D3).

If the Special One is to defy his frustrating win ratio of 20% against Spalletti in Serie A (W1, D3, L1), Paulo Dybala could be the catalyst after clocking seven goals and five assists in 13 league appearances this term.

Napoli vs Roma Potential Line-ups

Napoli (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Kim Min-jae, Juan Jesus, Mario Rui; Stanislav Lobotka, Piotr Zielinski, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa; Matteo Politano, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen.

Roma (3-4-2-1): Rui Patricio; Gianluca Mancini, Roger Ibanez, Chris Smalling; Nicola Zalewski, Bryan Cristante, Nemanja Matic, Stephan El Shaarawy; Lorenzo Pellegrini, Paulo Dybala; Tammy Abraham.

How to Watch?

Napoli vs Roma, alongside all other Serie A fixtures, is available to watch online via Serie A live streams.

Napoli vs Roma Prediction

This encounter has all the makings of a blockbuster fixture, with the two in-form sides looking to maintain their impressive league runs.

But with all due respect to Roma’s giant effort to establish themselves as genuine top-four contenders, we give Napoli the upper hand.

Napoli 2-1 Roma