Napoli v AS Roma
Football: Italian Serie A, 26th matchday
Sunday, 28th February 2010. Kickoff 15:00

---

Napoli

Napoli is the second side after Roma which I personally really admire. Their chairman De Laurentis deserves much credit for what the team has recently achieved and continues to progress in Serie A. His class and wisdom could be compared to Del Nido at Sevilla, another transfer genius by all means.

Apart from the club’s policy, certainly, some other personalities deserve attention. Marek Hamsik has been joined by another skilful and exciting attacking unit – Fabio Quagliarella. God knows how much I wanted to see that guy at AS Roma, but money is often the case when it comes to Giallorossi transfers.

This year Napoli has a perfect chance to grab the fourth spot and guarantee at a ticket to the Champions’ League qualification. 4 match winless streak has, however, thrown them down the packing order and allow Juventus to occupy the fourth position, at least temporary.

Remarkably as it may look Napoli is without a scored goal in last 3 home fixtures, their opponents, though, were no walk-overs: Palermo, Inter and Genoa have all paid a visit to San Paolo stadium over last 30 days. On the other hand Walter Mazzari’s team has not conceded a single goal in those games, adding one more nil-nil affair against rock-bottom Siena.

Match ups against Roma have always been considered a sort of a southern derby in Italy. At least the clubs’ fans are considering each other arch rivals. Napoli is short of left wing-backs Andrea Dossena and Grava. All others, including Lavezzi, are available for selection.

Expected formation and line up :
Napoli (3-4-2-1)
De Sanctis
Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Bogliacino
Maggio, Pazienza, Cigarini, Aronica
Quagliarella, Hamsik
Lavezzi

AS Roma

Just 3 days after the 2-3 loss at the Stadio Olimpico to Panathinaikos, Roma has to turn its attention to domestic targets. Ranieri should’ve done his best during this short period to make the players swallow the bitter defeat.

The experienced specialist was left speechless following the “6 minute madness” , which in his opinion “cost them the tie”. If you read my preview to that match – the final time result should not have surprised you.

Absence of Julio Sergio and defensive midfielder David Pizzarro turned out to be too much for Roma. Moreover appearance of Philippe Mexes in the center of defense instead of Burdisso, brought me back the memories of good old Spalletti’s Roma. The one which could suffer a “XX-minute madness” and get thrashed by Man.U, Inter or any other significant opponent.

Reports suggest David Pizzarro will be back in the line up for the match vs. Napoli. Burdisso and Motta should send Mexes and Cassetti to the bench. Toni could come on in the second half. All in all Roma has clearly lost the momentum, something what is inevitable for any team, which has been crushing opponents on regular basis since October 2009.

Expected formation and line up :
AS Roma (4-2-3-1)
Doni
Motta, Juan,Burdisso, Riise
De Rossi, Brighi
Cerci, Vucinic, Taddei
Baptista

Betting advice

A classic case of when two different streaks meat each other. On one hand we have Napoli who is winless for quite a while now, on the other - Roma who's unstoppable in 2010 in Serie A.

I continue to go against Roma with Doni between the sticks.That guy is not only a jinx, but his presence is making the defensive line nervious. You know, that there is a certain psychological connection between center backs and the goalie.

Fresher and more motivated home side with a 0 handicap is a very decent bet indeed.

The Statistics :

PERCENTAGE ESTIMATE :

Napoli 43% : Draw 32% : AS Roma25%

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take Napoli (0) @ 1.69 with Bet365