Article by Raffaele (@ItalianoCalcio)
For the past four seasons either Napoli or Roma have finished in second place. Roma are currently in second with a five point lead over Napoli. This Saturday these two teams will clash in Rome in what is the best matchup of the round. Roma has a 15 game winning streak at home in Serie A fixtures. While Napoli has won 5 out of their last 6 road games in Serie A, so something has to give.
Napoli are coming off a tough loss to Atalanta in Naples, while Roma are coming off an exciting win over Inter at the San Siro. Napoli will look to rebound because a loss to Roma could spell the end of their hopes of finishing in second place. Finishing in second place has proven to be very important, you directly qualify for the Champions League group stage. Finishing in third place means you need to play in a playoff round, which Italian clubs have really struggled in recently.
One of the key matchups to watch between these two sides is in the midfield. Radja Nainggolan is playing about as well as anybody in Serie A. Nainggolan has scored five goals in his last four Serie A games. Napoli has been relying on youth in their midfield, namely Diawara and Zielinski. Both have impressed this season, but should Sarri give them the start, how will they deal the experience of Nainggolan, De Rossi, and Strootman. Diawara really announced himself to the world when Napoli played Real Madrid in the Champions League a few weeks ago and he stood his own against the likes of Luka Modric.
Roma and Napoli have two very different leading scorers. Roma’s leading scorer is Edin Dzeko, your prototypical striker. Dzeko is experiencing a fantastic second season in Italy. Napoli’s top scorer is a bit smaller in stature, but is scoring like a number nine. Dries Mertens has been Napoli’s best player and has really stepped up in the absence of the injured Milik. We have seen Mertens transform from a super-sub to a superstar this season. However, Sarri may be tempted to start one of his traditional strikers, Milik or Pavoletti, against Roma’s big defenders Manolas and Fazio.
Napoli have been under the microscope in recent weeks, a lot brought on by themselves. De Laurentiis slammed his coach and players publicly, the team refused to talk to the media, and then they caused a lot of noise after their controversial loss to Juventus in the Coppa Italia semifinals. Napoli needs to forget all about that and focus on Roma this Saturday because Roma are hungry and want to guarantee themselves a place in the Champions League.
While both teams are strong defensively, expect goals to be scored. Napoli (60) and Roma (57) are the two top scoring teams in Serie A respectively. Over their past six meetings, Roma has the advantage, winning three of those games compared to Napoli’s two. Roma beat Napoli 3-1 in Naples when the two sides played earlier this season in what was an entertaining game. Napoli played sloppy defensively, which led to two of Roma’s goals. The neutral fan will hope for another entertaining game from two of Serie A’s most explosive teams.
