Napoli host Roma at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on 24 October 2026, a fixture that matters in the Serie A table right now. Roma sit third after seven matches on 17 points, having conceded just three goals all season, while Napoli are ninth on 10 points with five defeats in nine matches across all competitions. The visitors are chasing Champions League spots with three consecutive league wins behind them, the hosts are still figuring out who they are under Allegri. Roma's defensive discipline makes them the team with more to lose if this goes wrong.
Allegri took charge of Napoli on 3 July 2026, replacing Antonio Conte, while Gasperini has been at Roma since June 2025 after taking over from Claudio Ranieri. The squads they are working with now are different enough from what those managers inherited that the previous meetings between them do not tell you much about Sunday.
Napoli's recent results are not good reading. A 0-1 home defeat to Venezia on 18 October was followed two days later by a 4-3 Champions League win over Bodø/Glimt, which is exactly the kind of scoreline that tells you very little about a team's actual level and five defeats in nine matches across all competitions is the number that matters. Roma's league run reads 2-0 over Genoa, 0-0 with Como and a 4-0 demolition of Slovan Bratislava in Europe on 20 October, with just three goals conceded across seven league games.
Napoli are without several bodies in important areas: Alessandro Buongiorno is out with a knee meniscus injury until early November, David Neres is sidelined with a thigh problem, Alisson Santos remains unavailable due to an injury recurrence and Rrahmani is doubtful with fever. That is a lot of defensive reshuffling. Roma have problems of a different kind, though. Mile Svilar is out with a broken finger until early November, Paulo Dybala misses out with a calf strain and will not be back until November and Lorenzo Pellegrini has a high grade thigh injury keeping him out for six to eight weeks, with Manu Koné also unavailable until mid November with a thigh issue. Losing Dybala, Pellegrini and Koné in the same match is a lot but Gasperini's system has kept producing results without its best players before.
Allegri has set up Napoli in a compact 3-4-2-1, using Kevin De Bruyne as a deep playmaker and Scott McTominay in midfield, with Rasmus Hojlund leading the line. The absences of Buongiorno, Neres and Alisson Santos will leave the build up play narrower and less secure than Allegri would want, putting even more pressure on De Bruyne to manufacture something from deep. Gasperini's Roma run a fluid 3-4-2-1 of their own but where Allegri prioritises shape and transition, Gasperini builds from collective pressing. Roma hold a high line and press in coordinated waves rather than reactively and that distinction is what makes De Bruyne against Roma's midfield the match up that will decide things. If Roma can pin Napoli back and stop him operating at his preferred depth, the hosts will really struggle to build. Donyell Malen has been in excellent form up front and his movement against a reconfigured Napoli back line is the clearest source of danger from the other direction, while Matías Soulé, operating in the pocket behind him, will be watching closely for any gaps that Rrahmani's potential absence might create. The loss of Dybala and Pellegrini removes Roma's two most individually dangerous creative players but Gasperini's system does not depend on any one person, it depends on everyone pressing at once.
Roma hold a slight historical edge with around 66 wins to Napoli's 55 and 59 draws across approximately 180 meetings and the most recent fixture, in February 2026, finished 2-2. Napoli are unbeaten in their last five against Roma, which is worth noting even if the current form picture runs the other way.
Set pieces could matter here, given the personnel gaps on both sides. Napoli's wide delivery will be less reliable without Neres, whereas Roma have kept clean sheets with multiple first choice players absent, which suggests the system is the constant, not the personnel. Roma's clean sheet win over Slovan was considerably less draining than Napoli's 4-3 thriller and Roma's midweek win was low intensity by comparison, which matters across ninety minutes.
Roma's defensive record is the best in the league and their collective pressing system works with or without Dybala and Pellegrini, so they should have enough to win this. The same defensive reshuffle that looked exposed against Venezia will be under pressure again from a more organised attack. Roma's defensive structure and Napoli's reshuffling forced by injuries point the same way: a 1-2 Roma win, with Malen the most likely source of the difference.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
