After starting 2014 with a demoralising 3-0 defeat against runaway
leaders Juventus, the "Giallorossi" have been spurred into life with
five consecutive victories. They have registered 11 home wins in 13
games this season and just two goals conceded. Roma did remarkably well
to eliminate Juventus in the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup and they
are certainly brimming with confidence ahead of the Napoli game.
Daniele De Rossi and Kevin Strootman have both overcome from their
respective injuries. As Dodò and Federico Balzaretti are injured,
Vasilis Torosidis is expected to start at left-back, while Miralem
Pjanic faces a late fitness test. Roma's last round of Serie A against
Parma was postponed due to a bad weather so they will be fresher than
opponents.
Third-placed Napoli suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat at
Atalanta last Sunday and now they took just two points from last three
league fixtures. Rafael Benitez put himself forward for much of the
blame with a bit of the famed Rafa rotation, benching Marek Hamsik and
Gonzalo Higuain with this Coppa fixture in mind.
The visitors are
likely to be without long-term absentees Behrami, Zuniga and Mesto. New
signings Henrique and Faouzi Ghoulam could play some part.
Napoli
have only managed two victories in the last seven on the road, losing
the two clashes against Roma held at the Stadio Olimpico in the past 12
months.
Possible line-ups:
AS Roma (4-3-3): De Sanctis – Maicon, Benatia, Castan, Torosidis – Nainggolan, De Rossi, Strootman – Florenzi, Totti, Gervinho.
SSC Napoli (4-2-3-1): Reina – Maggio, Britos, Albiol, Ghoulam – Inler, Jorginho – Insigne, Hamsik, Mertens – Higuain.
AS Roma vs SSC Napoli: Competition: Coppa Italia
Match date: 4 February 2014
Kick Off Time: 19:45 GMT
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Italy
Match date: 4 February 2014
Kick Off Time: 19:45 GMT
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Italy
