Romavs.Napoli

After inching up to ninth in Italy's top flight, the Giallorossi secured progress in the Europa League, while their southern rivals stayed clear of the chasing pack with last week's win over Juventus.

Match preview

Thursday's 2-0 home victory over an Eintracht Frankfurt side flying high in the Bundesliga served as more evidence that Roma have turned a corner under the steadying influence of Claudio Ranieri.

The Rome-born boss has helped his boyhood club recover from a slow start in the Europa League to finish 15th in the league phase and set up a playoff to reach the last 16 for a third straight season.

The Giallorossi are also unbeaten in six Serie A matches, after losing seven of the previous nine; following recent victories against Genoa and Udinese, they will now aim to post three consecutive league wins for the first time since March.

Last week's win in Udine - a first away success of the season, secured by second-half spot kicks from top scorer Artem Dovbyk and captain Lorenzo Pellegrini - saw Ranieri become the 15th coach in Italian top-flight history to reach 200 wins.

The ex-Napoli manager now heads into a pair of tough fixtures, first facing his former club in Serie A, then visiting AC Milan in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.

Recent history will not be on his side this weekend: Roma have won just two of their last eight home games against Sunday's visitors, failing to find the net in three of the last four.

Indeed, Napoli have been beaten just once in the clubs' last 10 meetings, with their sole defeat during that time being sealed by a goal from then-Roma striker Romelu Lukaku.

The well-travelled forward now plies his trade in Naples, and his penalty completed the Partenopei's comeback at home to Juventus last week, after in-form midfielder Frank Anguissa had got them back on level terms.

A winner of multiple Scudetti as player and coach, Napoli boss Antonio Conte has clearly instilled resilience in a squad that put up such a tame defence of their title last term - despite losing two star players.

Conte's table-toppers have not only won the most games after going in front - 17 out of 18 so far - but they have also won the joint-most after trailing (four), leaving them just ahead of reigning champions Inter Milan in the standings.

Having now won their last seven Serie A matches, another victory in the Derby del Sole - 'the Derby of the Sun' - would see Napoli put together a run of eight for the first time since early 2023.

Then, they were en route to a third league title, and number four will come one step closer if they can prevail at Stadio Olimpico.

Roma Serie A form:

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Roma form (all competitions):

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Napoli Serie A form:

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Team News

Having been forced to field his strongest team in midweek, aiming to avert an early exit from the Europa League, Claudio Ranieri may ask the same men to go again on Sunday evening.

Enjoying a rare injury-free period, Roma have just lost Spanish centre-back Mario Hermoso to Bayer Leverkusen - but he had become a back-up player under Ranieri.

Starting up front, Artem Dovbyk has scored in his last three league games; the Ukrainian striker has also been directly involved in more goals than anyone else over the past six Serie A matchdays - four of his own and two assists.

Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku will lead Napoli's attack against his old club, having netted the winner in November's reverse fixture. Last week, the Belgium international made his 150th Serie A appearance, 32 of which were with Roma last season.

Left-back Mathias Olivera is the visitors' sole absentee, as defensive rock Alessandro Buongiorno has resumed full training and could be named on the bench.

Ex-Roma duo Leonardo Spinazzola and Juan Jesus will fill in again, with the former deputising for Olivera and the latter holding the fort for Buongiorno.

Roma possible starting lineup:

Svilar; Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Kone, Paredes, Angelino; Dybala, Pellegrini; Dovbyk

Napoli possible starting lineup:

Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Jesus, Spinazzola; Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay; Politano, Lukaku, Neres

We say: Roma 1-1 Napoli

Roma are far tougher to beat at home than away, so they could stall Napoli's winning run and keep their own momentum building.

Written by

Jonathan O'Shea

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