Roma vs Napoli

Stadio Olimpico plays host to the 155th Serie A Derby del Sole as title-bidding Napoli take a trip to the Italian capital to lock horns with top-four hopefuls Roma.

Since Atalanta’s 1-0 win at Olimpico in mid-September, Roma have strung together a hat-trick of single-goal margin Serie A wins to climb to fourth in the table. But with fifth-placed Lazio only one point adrift, there’s no room for complacency as ‘I Giallorossi’ aim to defy an underwhelming six-game home league form against Napoli (W1, D1, L4). Luckily for Jose Mourinho, his men have turned Olimpico into a fortress in 2022, suffering just two defeats across 13 Serie A home outings since the turn of the year (W7, D4). Except for Atalanta’s narrow win a month ago, Mourinho’s lads have won all three remaining home league fixtures in 2022/23, netting an average of two goals per match. That said, Roma are winless in their last 12 Serie A home encounters against sides starting the day in the top four (D7, L5), including three straight defeats in the run-up to this clash.

On the other hand, Napoli pulled off an eye-catching comeback to beat Bologna 3-2 at home last weekend and maintain their 100% unbeaten Serie A start (W8, D2). It’s been a while since Scudetto hopes looked this alive for ‘I Partenopei,’ who are seeking their first Serie A title since the glory days of Diego Maradona. Luciano Spalletti’s high-flyers have racked up four victories across their five Serie A road trips this season (D1) despite failing to keep a clean sheet in each success. A scintillating 4-1 romping of newly-promoted Cremonese on their most recent league travel forms part of Napoli’s stunning ten-game winning streak in all competitions. Another win in Rome would see them equal the club-record 11-game winning run, which dates back to 1986.