Serie A: Roma vs. Napoli Preview, Odds, Predictions

Have you ever heard of Derby del Sole or the Derby of the Sun? That is the Serie A matchup between AS Roma and Napoli, and such one takes place this weekend in the Italian capital. Jose Mourinho and his unit host, the current leaders from Naples, want to end their near-perfect score. For the moment, Napoli doesn’t have a single loss, and is on fire, displaying an offensive clinic. Meanwhile, Roma still has some glitches in its game, but Mourinho slowly takes care of all that, and as time goes by, we will see this unit getting better and better.

Preview

AS Roma (+190) is currently fourth in the Serie A table. That isn’t enough for Mourinho, nor for the fans who are ecstatic following last year’s UEFA Europa Conference trophy.

Il Lupi plays well and for the moment, has seven wins, one draw, and two defeats in the domestic league. They aren’t particularly well in the Europa League, though, that doesn’t have to mean anything, especially because of Mourinho and his tactical thoughts.

The majority of Roma’s games at home, counting both competitions, ended with moderate efficiency, meaning 2 or 3 goals. In three of them, Il Lupi netted twice or more or kept its net intact.

Napoli (+140) plays beyond all expectations. They currently have 10 wins in a row, and overall this year, in 15 games, 13 victories, and two draws. Now, that is something nobody expected to see some two and a half months into the campaign.

As said, the offense is incredible. Only once in the recent ten matchups Napoli didn’t deliver two or more goals, and on several occasions, we’ve seen them humiliating the rivals, like Ajax in Amsterdam, 1-6, or Liverpool at San Paolo, 4-1.

Gil Azzuri have five straight wins on the road, with the last two in Amsterdam and Cremonese coming by a combined goal difference of 10-2. As a matter of fact, they have six triumphs and one draw, with 22 goals netted and six allowed.

Latest News

Paulo Dybala is injured, and he is out for this one. Zeki Celik, Darboe, and Gini Wijnaldum are also out, while Kumbulla sits as questionable.

On the other side, Rrahmani and Anguissa are both out for sure and won’t be able to play.

Head to Head Games

Both events during the previous season ended with ties, in Rome, 0-0, and in Naples, 1-1.

In total, we’ve seen 170 meetings between these two clubs, and the current record is in Roma’s favor, with Il Lupi having 63 victories, Napoli 52, and 55 games ending without a winner.

Prediction

The game promises a lot of action, because both Roma and Napoli have excellent attackers, especially the guests. Roma can’t afford to be inferior at home, and they will need to go after three points. A win in Milan over Inter boosted their morale significantly, and we think the hosts will have an offensive-minded approach here. Napoli, on the other hand, has no option but to attack. Therefore, our pick is over 2.5 goals and both teams to score.

Pick: Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals +105