Verdict: Home win
Best odds: 7/4
Bookmaker: bet365
AS Roma are set to welcome Napoli to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday afternoon in a game that will mark the opening of the 11th round of this season’s Serie A roller coaster.
Roma
Roma’s main goal this season will be to return and remain among the top four teams in Italy, in that way securing Champions League involvement for next season. At the moment, they seem to be on the right track, having won the last two league games and climbed to the fourth place with 19 points to their name.
In the previous round, played on Wednesday, they produced a remarkable achievement by winning 0-4 away to Udinese with a man down for two thirds of the game. They seem to be on hot form at the moment, though it will come as a sort of worry for boss Paulo Fonseca that it was actually the third time in ten games that one of his players was sent off this season. Ten men may have been enough to overcome Udinese on the evening, but that will not always be the case and they will do well to employ some caution in that respect.
Be that as it may, the Giallorossi enter this match on the back of two really good results, the other being a 2-1 win over AC Milan last weekend.
Team News
Centre-back Federico Fazio was the player that saw the red card raised against him in Udine and is therefore suspended for this game. Fonseca also has a number of injury absentees, with midfielder Bryan Cristante, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Amadou Diawara, as well as forwards Nikola Kalinic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, all unavailable for selection.
Davide Zappacosta, on loan from Chelsea, and fellow fullback Devid Eugene Bouah are doubts.
Napoli
Unlike Roma, Napoli seem to be more focused on their European campaign than the domestic one. They top Group E of the Champions League ahead of the reigning title holders Liverpool, whom they beat in the opening round. But back home, things aren’t looking so good at the moment.
They started well enough, but they failed to win three out of the last four Serie A games, and that slump in form saw them yield up a place in the top four to the team playing host to them in this game. Therefore, it will perhaps be the perfect chance to reclaim it, but it certainly won’t be easy. At the moment, they sit in sixth place on 18 points, the same as Lazio and Cagliari in fifth and seventh, respectively, and one less than Roma in fourth. Their last game saw them share the spoils with Atalanta at home.
On the other hand, the fact that both teams have a better record away than at home this term might be perceived as a slight advantage for Carlo Ancelotti and his men.
Team News
Another thing that works in their favor is that Ancelotti won’t have as many absentees to make do without as Fonseca, but those that are absent aren’t players very easy to replace. Defenders Kostas Manolas, formerly of Roma, and Elseid Hysaj, as well as midfielder Allan, are all out of action. It’s also worth pointing out that Ancelotti is likely to have one eye on the Champions League clash with RB Salzburg on Tuesday when picking his team.
Conclusion
This won’t be an easy game for either side, and it feels like it won’t be won by many goals. It will be tight, but the home team’s form and undivided focus at the moment should be enough to get them over the line and help them add the three points to their tally.
Verdict: Home win
Best odds: 7/4
Bookmaker: bet365
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