Serie A 2019/20: Napoli vs Roma – tactical analysis

Napoli and Roma met in Serie A this weekend with both sides looking to keep their Europa League places secure. Although there are still nine games remaining, both Roma and Napoli appear to be out of the Champions League picture as they are 12 and 15 points behind fourth-placed Atalanta respectively. This tactical analysis will look at the tactics both teams used in their attempt to pick up the three points and bounce back from respective defeats last time out in Serie A. It was Atalanta that all but ended Napoli’s hopes of Champions League football next season with a 2-0 win over the Partenopei in midweek. The result also brought to a halt to Reno Gattuso’s men, nine-match unbeaten run across all competitions, during which they won the Coppa Italia, creating a safety net for Napoli with a guaranteed Europa League spot.

Roma, meanwhile, have lost half of their past 10 games including a 2-0 defeat to 15th-placed Udinese last time out, a run that saw them drop out of the top four and fall away from Atalanta whose quick start after the resumption has had an impact on the sides around them to date.

Game context

In their last encounter, these two sides played out a tight game in which Roma triumphed 2-1 after goals from Nicolo Zaniolo and Jordan Veretout gave them the lead. Napoli responded late through Arkadiusz Milik but couldn’t close the gap and steal a point. The takeaway from Roma on that day was a solid defensive shape with 4-2-3-1 as their base. That game was a very even contest with chances hard to come by. Their most recent matchup was to be more of the same.

Lineups

Paulo Fonseca sprang a surprise by switching to a 5-3-2 shape to accommodate the threat of Napolis forward-thinking players. Chris Smalling anchored the back five but lasted only a short time before being replaced through injury. Diego Zappacosta, an almost permanent fixture down the right-hand side, and Leonardo Spinazzola occupied the wingback positions while the midfield three were unchanged from the Udinese game. Justin Kluivert partnered the ever-reliable Edin Dzeko at the top. Genaro Gattuso stuck with his tried and tested shape for this match and continued to juggle personnel to retain freshness in his squad. Kostas Manolas came into the backline while Arkadiusz Milik led the line with Dries Mertens dropping to the bench. Lorenzo Insigne continued ins his usual role in front of the influential Mario Rui, while Jose Callejon came into the starting line up on the opposite side of midfield.

Tactical Overview

It was a surprise to see Paulo Fonseca set his Roma side up in a deep 5-3-2 block given his side’s favoritism of their 4-2-3-1 shape across the season. He had obviously decided the best way to counter Napoli’s fluid passing style was to sit a little deeper than normal, stay narrow and compact, and hit Napoli where they are most vulnerable – on the counter-attack. With Dzeko not the most mobile of target men in 2020 it would be important for Roma to use the roaming Klievert to offer the threat in behind or in open space in these moments, especially when recovering the ball from deeper positions and use Dzeko as a fixed target to set a platform to counter or help the team get up the pitch from those deeper positions.

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