We have all the pre-match preamble you need as Roma take on Spezia in Serie A on Sunday (kick-off: 18:00 CET).

NAPOLI

League position: 1st
Head coach: Luciano Spalletti
Serie A top scorer: Victor Osimhen (13)

RECENT FORM

NAPOLI: L W W L W
ROMA: W D W W W

Former Roma boss Spalletti has Napoli fans dreaming of a first Serie A title since Diego Maradona’s brilliance inspired them to top-flight success during the 1989-90 campaign.

The Naples outfit now have a 12-point cushion at the top of Serie A after their 2-0 victory at Salernitana last time out, and Spalletti will be hoping his team will be bolstered by the return of Georgian superstar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from illness.

As for the Giallorossi, they are enjoying a fine run and victory at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona would not only move them to within 10 points of Napoli but could also lift Roma into second-place.

Zeki Celik is suspended for Jose Mourinho’s side, which will force the visitors into a reshuffle, while Gini Wijnaldum could make a matchday squad for the first time as he steps up his recovery from injury.

Possible Napoli line-up

(4-3-3)

Meret; Di Lorenzo, Kim, Rrahmani, Rui; Zielinski, Lobotka, Anguissa; Lozano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia

LAST MEETING

DANGER MAN
Victor Osimhen

Osimhen is the undoubted main man in the division, with his 13 league strikes better than any other player in the league.

Roma know only too well what the Nigeria international is capable of, with Osimhen’s stunning strike proving the difference when these two sides last met.

Strong, quick, deadly in front of goal; Osimhen has it all.

If he is also reunited with Kvaratskhelia in attack, Roma’s defence - which has been airtight currently - will need to maintain their excellent run of form to keep Napoli at bay.

MATCH STATS

Of Roma’s 37 Serie A points so far this season, 21 have come away from home (57%) and just Napoli (25) have won more points on their travels than Mourinho’s men have in 2022-23.

The Giallorossi have won each of their last three matches in all competitions, thanks to a trio of successive clean sheets and a combined five goals of their own. Since the turn of the New Year, Roma have kept four clean sheets in five matches (W4, D1).

Roma are currently on a six-game unbeaten run in Serie A (W3, D3), which is the longest current sequence without defeat across the entire division.

Napoli, meanwhile, have lost two of their previous five matches in all competitions, including a penalty shootout defeat to Cremonese that means Roma will take on Serie A’s bottom side in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.

PLAYER STATS

• Across all Serie A players this term, Osimhen has the best per 90 average for non-penalty goals (0.93), shots (4.5), non-penalty xG (0.66) and touches in the opposition box (8.3).
  
• In the 13 games Roma have played with Paulo Dybala in their ranks, they boast a 69% win ratio and average 2.31 points per game.
  
• Dybala and Tammy Abraham have each been involved in four top-flight goals since the turn of the year, with only Ademola Lookman (six), Jeremie Boga (six) and Osimhen (five) involved in more so far in 2023.
  
• In total, Dybala has been involved in 14 goals in his last 15 appearances with Roma in all competitions (10 goals, four assists) - the most of any Giallorossi player so far this season.

WHAT THEY SAID

"Roma are an excellent team with top-quality players. We must play with our usual mentality, trying to keep the ball while making sure we don't get caught on the counter.

“It will be a great match. The key is not conceding because we're always capable of scoring ourselves.”

Napoli defender Amir Rrahmani previewing the Giallorossi’s visit