It’s believed Napoli and Roma will take two very different approaches to 4-3-3 in today’s showdown.
It kicks off at the Stadio San Paolo at 17.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
Maurizio Sarri’s men have lost just one of their last 20 competitive games, the 3-2 at Bologna a week ago, winning 15 with 49 goals scored and only 13 conceded.
It’s believed Napoli and Roma will take two very different approaches to 4-3-3 in today’s showdown.
It kicks off at the Stadio San Paolo at 17.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
Maurizio Sarri’s men have lost just one of their last 20 competitive games, the 3-2 at Bologna a week ago, winning 15 with 49 goals scored and only 13 conceded.
Rudi Garcia’s side are without a win in five competitive matches, including a 6-1 defeat at Barcelona and 2-0 home loss to Atalanta.
Their last victory at the San Paolo was 3-1 in December 2011, followed by four consecutive defeats between Serie A and Coppa Italia, scoring once and conceding 10.
Both teams play 4-3-3, but in very different ways, and it’s reported Roma will adjust again for this difficult test.
According to the Corriere dello Sport, Garcia will set out a more defensive approach aimed at hitting Napoli on the counter-attack with the pace of Mohamed Salah.
Gervinho needs a fitness test today and is likely to only be ready for the bench.
Francesco Totti, Vasilis Torosidis and Kevin Strootman are unavailable due to injury.
It remains to be seen whether Alessandro Florenzi will be placed at right-back or on the right side of a trident attack flanking Edin Dzeko.
If he’s in a forward role, Douglas Maicon will step in, while Leandro Castan is pushing to unseat the error-prone Antonio Rudiger.
Napoli seem to have few doubts as to their starting XI, the only difference might be giving Dries Mertens a start instead of Jose Callejon after his brace in Thursday’s 5-2 Europa League victory over Legia Warsaw.
Manolo Gabbiadini is not even in the squad due to an ankle injury.
Due to safety concerns around the huge rivalry, tickets for the game have not been sold to people who are residents in Rome.
Napoli (probable): Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Higuain, Insigne
Napoli bench: Gabriel, Rafael, Henrique, Strinic, Chiriches, Maggio, Chalobah, David Lopez, Valdifiori, Dezi, El Kaddouri, Mertens
Roma (probable): Szczesny; Florenzi, Manolas, Rudiger (Castan), Digne; Nainggolan, De Rossi, Pjanic; Iago Falque (Maicon), Dzeko, Salah
Roma bench: De Sanctis, Lobont, Emerson, Castan (Rudiger), Gyomber, Maicon (Iago Falque), Keita, Ucan, Vainqueur, Iturbe, Gervinho, Sadiq