Roma will host Napoli in the Derby della Sole at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday afternoon, resuming a hard-fought battle for second place, as well seeing who can possibly obtain an automatic spot in next season’s Champions League.
After previously winning eight consecutive matches in Serie A, the Giallorossi have secured only two victories in the last five rounds.
However, during their last two league matches, the evergreen Francesco Totti has made an impact off the bench by scoring the equaliser in the 3-3 draw against Atalanta and the last two goals in the 3-2 win against Torino.
Currently the Lupi are third in the Italian league standings, with 68 points after 34 rounds, but they are five points behind Monday’s opponents. Napoli are in pole position to join Juventus in the Champions League next season, but they are nine points behind the Bianconeri and their Scudetto aspirations look as good as gone.
The Partenopei have won three of their last five Serie A matches and they thrashed Bologna 6-0 on Wednesday night; Manolo Gabbiadini scored the first two goals and Dries Mertens grabbed himself a hat-trick in the rout.
Previously these two teams drew 0-0 back in Week 16, whereas in 2014-15, both sides registered home victories; Napoli won 2-0 at the Stadio San Paolo while Roma were 1-0 victors at the Stadio Olimpico.
Both teams will be at full strength, but the most important change will be in the Napoli squad. Gonzalo Higuain will return from his three-match suspension, which will mean that Gabbiadini will be back on the bench despite scoring three goals in as many matches for the Neapolitans.
Luciano Spalletti is expected to make some changes to his starting line-up despite defeating Torino. Miralem Pjanic is expected to start in midfield and Alessandro Florenzi should move to right-back, with Maicon being relegated to the bench. Although Totti was the hero against the Granata, it is unlikely that he will start the match.
Form Guide: Roma (D-W-D-D-W) Napoli (W-L-W-L-W)
Expected Starting XIs
Roma: Szczesny; Florenzi, Manolas, Zukanovic, Digne; Pjanic, Keita, Nainggolan; Perotti; Salah, El Shaarawy
Napoli: Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Higuain, Insigne
