Roma striker Edin Dzeko. (Photo : Getty Images)
A high-profile encounter between two of the top three teams in the 2016-2017 Serie A season, SSC Napoli (4-1-2, 14 points) and AS Roma (4-2-1, 13 points), will open round 8 competitions at the Stadio San Paolo on Oct. 15, Saturday.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 9:00 a.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Napoli is currently second in the Italian top flight table, four points below league leaders and defending champions Juventus, while Roma is at third place, only a point behind Gli Azzurri.
Partenopei's six-game unbeaten run was snapped during the previous round on Oct. 2 as they were stunned by lowly club Atalanta, 0-1, at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Four Four Two reported.
Italian forward Andrea Petagna scored what proved to be the winning goal for La Dea in the ninth minute as both sides went scoreless from then on.
It was the first defeat for head coach Maurizio Sarri's squad this term and was also the first time the team looked missing the play of Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuaín, who moved to Juventus in a £75 million transfer deal in the summer.
Meanwhile, Roma had alternated losing and winning in their last four matches after going on a three-game unbeaten run to start the season, indicating that the team has yet to find a consistent form at the moment.
In their most recent fixture, I Giallorossi escaped with a narrow 2-1 victory over contending team Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico on Oct. 2, as per BBC Sport.
Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko opened the scoring with a close range right-footed shot in the fifth minute from a pass by defender Bruno Peres.
The team was able to take care of the one-point lead up until the 72nd minute when Inter midfielder Ever Banega found the equalizer with a left-footed shot from the center of the box with the assist coming from team captain Mauro Icardi.
However, it was also Icardi who would give the victory to Roma as he netted an own goal four minutes later as Kostas Manolas' header hit him on the way to his team's net.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a close 2-1 victory for Roma.
Napoli starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Reina; Soderlund, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Zielinski, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Milik, Insigne
Roma starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Szczesny; Peres, Manolas, Fazio, Jesus; De Rossi, Strootman; Salah, Florenzi, Perotti; Dzeko
