Serie A 2022-23: Napoli vs AS Roma: Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head

On Sunday night the Partenopei will host their rivals from the capital city Rome in a feisty encounter.

Serie A league leaders Napoli will host Roma at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Sunday. The league leaders are showing no signs of slowing down and have been on an impressive run of form after their shocking exit from the Coppa Italia. Victor Osimhen stole the show away at Salerno yet again by doubling their lead after a well-worked goal by Giovanni Di Lorenzo in the stoppage time of the first half.

They lead the league by 12 points now, and with both the clubs from Milan showing signs of inconsistency it is very unlikely that the Partnopei are going to give up this massive lead. Every team to have reached the 50-point mark by the halfway of the season have gone on to win the Scudetto in the history of Italian football. Napoli are firm favourites to keep this stat intact.

Roma have been mostly consistent this season and have shown many signs of improvement under Jose Mourinho. Sitting at 5th in the Serie A table equal on points with Lazio and Inter Milan, a possible title chance is almost for the Giallorossi as they find themselves 13 points behind their hosts from Naples halfway down the season.

Although Napoli have been unbeaten against them since 2019, Mourinho might yet grind out a result and halt the celebratory atmosphere in Naples given the defensive solidity in his team. Only Nantes and Newcastle have had more clean sheets in Europe’s top five leagues since the turn of this year, with Roma having four out of five matches. The Giallorossi emerged victorious comfortably against Spezia in their last Serie A outing by 2-0 after goals from Stephan El Shaarawy and Tammy Abraham.

Kick-off: Monday, 30th January, 01:15 am (IST), 07:45 pm: (GMT), Sunday, 29th January

Napoli form (all competition): W-L-W-W-L

AS Roma form (all competition): W-W-W-D-W

Player to watch

Napoli

Victor Osimhen

A brute force of nature, he uses his immaculate stature to the best possible extent. A deadly presence in the box, he makes darting runs and his pace on and off the ball is very hard for defenders to track down. He has already scored 13 times in the league this season and also has 4 assists in his name and is the leading goal scorer in Serie A this season.

AS Roma

Tammy Abraham

Tammy Abraham's style of play is more like a 'traditional number nine', due to his fantastic ability to occupy and pin centre-backs, his excellent positioning and movement in the box and his aerial threat in both open plays and from set-pieces. He has also scored 5 times and has 4 assists in his name and is the most potent threat for Mourinho given the air of uncertainty lingering around Nicolo Zaniolo.

Match facts

• Mourinho has only won one of five league meetings between him and Luciano Spalletti and has not managed to win one since October 2008.
• Napoli are unbeaten in eight of their last 9 league meetings against Spalletti’s former club and last lost to the Giallrossi back in 2019 in the top flight of Italian football.
• The last time these two sides met in Serie A, Victor Osimhen netted a late goal at the Stadio Olimpico to give Napoli a 1-0 victory.

Injury and team news

It is expected that Luciano Spaletti will be returning to the side that he fielded against Salernitana. Mario Rui still remains the viable option ahead of Mathius Oliveira. Giovanni Di Lorenzo might get the nod ahead of loan signing Bartosz Bereszynski, while Matteo Politano has some concerns regarding his calf injury but is expected to be there on the team sheet. Kvaratskhelia has also shrugged off the flu and is expected to be back in the starting lineup for The Capocannoniere.

There have been some signs of dispute in the Roma camp after Nicolo Zaniolo and Rick Karsdorp had a fallout with Jose Mourinho. Georginio Wijnaldum is still unavailable due to his injury while we expect the front three to be as usual with Lorenzo Pellegrini and Paulo Dybala supporting Tammy Abraham. Cristante will be in the heart of the midfield with El Shaaraway and Zalewski playing on the flanks.

Head-to-Head stats

Matches: 31

Napoli: 13

Draws: 7

AS Roma: 11

Predicted lineup

Napoli predicted lineup (4-3-3):

Meret; Di Lorenzo, Kim, Rrahmani, Rui; Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Lozano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia

AS Roma predicted lineup (3-4-3):

Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Zalewski, Cristante, Matic, El Shaarawy; Pellegrini, Dybala; Abraham

Prediction

It is very unlikely that the league leaders will slip up in their quest for The Scudetto after a dreaded wait of 33 years whereas Roma have been playing with some lack of discipline and vigour but have managed to grind out results in their favour this season. A stalemate between these clubs might favour them both given the current predicament of the season.

Prediction:  Napoli 1-1 AS Roma.