It
would be misleading to describe the battle for third place in Serie A this
season as fierce. While Milan and Juventus go toe-to-toe for the Scudetto,
streets ahead of the rest, Lazio and Udinese seem almost reluctant to finish
third. This is good news for Napoli and Inter (and possibly even Roma), who are
now also becoming interested in the prospect of Champions League qualification.
Napoli
recently suffered three defeats in a row, but they have revived their flagging league
campaign with back-to-back wins over relegation candidates Novara and Lecce.
Wednesday’s 2-0 win at Lecce was impressive as it ended the hosts’ six-match
unbeaten run, but more importantly for Walter Mazzari it brought his side to
within a point of Lazio and closer to participation in the Champions League for the second season running.
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| "El Pocho," seen here scoring against Chelsea, returns to the bench for Napoi tomorrow |
Roma’s
“experiment” under Luis Enrique was always expected to take time, but even the
most patient Roma fans must be tiring of following their team’s woes. They have
suffered more defeats than any other team in the top half of the table, and they
have huge problems with both their defending and their discipline. Just as Bojan
Krkic and Maarten Stekelenburg return from suspension for this game, Danielle De
Rossi, Pablo Osvaldo and Eric Lamela miss out due to suspension. Lamela misses three of Roma’s remaining four games for spitting on Stephan Lichtsteiner during Juventus’
recent win over Roma. Classy.
Napoli
defender Hugo Camagnaro is unavailable due to injury, but Goran Pandev returns
from suspension and Ezequiel Lavezzi is expected to make the bench following
his recent thigh injury.
Roma’s
home record is far more respectable than their away form, and though they
recorded an impressive 3-1 win in Napoli already this season I can’t see them
repeating that achievement tomorrow. Expect Napoli to keep up the pressure on Roma’s
rivals in a game which should see a few goals.
Prediction
– Napoli to win – 5pts
Match
odds: Roma 6/4
Draw 11/5
Napoli 7/4
