Faced with the new management of their former owners, Napoli and Bologna in their first match of the campaign Sunday evening will be looking for their first Serie A win of the season.
The hosts had a nightmare begin by losing in Verona while the Champions League playing side had to content with a home draw against Udinese. Napoli struggled in the beginning of the 2023/2024 season as well and lost their first league match for the first time in the past nine years after they were humbled 3-0 by Hellas Verona last week.
Despite the fact that for most part of his career, coach Antonio Conte had been winning openers, this time, the team he was handling in Serie A was appalling during the second half of the match Stadio Bentegodi unveiling a draw out of 5 wins and 1 draw.
Napoli’s performance has been really poor since the beginning of the last season; the partenopei have not won the last eight league games in a row and this match was the first one where Napoli beat Coppa Italia opponent Modena on penalties.
Having lost their title defence and finding themselves in the 10th position, 41 points behind the newly crowned Inter Milan, president Aurelio De Laurentiis urged Conte to bring delight back to Naples, but things are not going as planned. As for the future of Victor Osimhen, the transfer is still pending and tying up valuable cash for the club, while recruitment was a problem; Brazilian winger David Neres signed for Fiorentina, new centre-back Alessandro Buongiorno, for Stadio Maradona recently.
Conte and his men are in for a difficult battle this weekend knowing that Napoli have scored in last season’s match with Bologna and that the recruitment has seen them complete three games without defeating the Emilian team.
Coach Davide Nicola left after his most recent rescue operation, and now new manager Roberto D'Aversa has the responsibility of continuing a club record three-year stay in the Italian first division.
After winning 4-1 at home in their Coppa Italia first-round match against Catanzaro, his team's first competitive match was a goalless draw against Monza on the first day of Serie A.
They now have a historical record of failing to defeat Roma in the capital: the Tuscans have only managed two draws and fourteen losses in their previous 16 efforts.
Paulo Dybala, who has committed to stay with the team, may be included in Roma's starting lineup on Sunday, while Matias Soule and Stephan El Shaarawy will be pushing for a starting position to assist Artem Dovbyk up front.
Tommaso Baldanzi, who is ranked lower on the team hierarchy, plays the team he joined for his Serie A debut, Empoli, where he made 41 league appearances and scored six goals before coming to Rome. For the Giallorossi, he has not scored in 14 league games.
Daniele De Rossi should have a complete roster to select from this weekend as Leandro Paredes makes his comeback from suspension; however, his opposing number is not in the same fortunate position.
