Consisting of two mid-tier teams that are only one point apart in Serie A, Roma and Genoa will play at Stadio Olimpico on Friday.
New management has brought better form to both sides taking them away froft the bottom end of the table, but are still far off the Europa places.
Brezaling new but highly experienced coach Claudio Ranieri, Roma had to come from the rear to emulate the drawn game 2-2 against Bologna last game to take their unbeaten run run to five games.
Following the finish 2024 year with two victories and one more draw, the Giallorossi began new year with the victory in the Derby della Capitale against neighbours Lazio to Stadio Dall’Ara.
Alexis Saelemaekers put AS Roma the lead against his former loaning club Bologna but the latter responded with two goals and just near the 92nd minute Roma were awarded a penalty and Artem Dovbyk succeeded in making one point for the ball club.
That finish saw them establish themselves in 10th place with 24 points nine points clear of 11th placed Genoa.
Preparing for two more Europa League matches and the Coppa Italia quarter-final against AC Milan, Ranieri’s team will first welcome the Grifone to Rome.
In September, the reverse fixture was settled with a 1-1 draw at the Marassi stadium; a goal by Dovbyk in the first half meant Roma was on way to a win, but Koni De Winter sealed the fate of the match in the 96th minute.
On the upswing since early-season appointment of Patrick Vieira as their coach, Genoa opened the second half of Serie A by triumphing at home for the first time.
The last time out saw the Grifone clinch a narrow victory by beating Parma 1-0 with a lone strike from Morten Frendrup, they had seen a new owner Dan Sucu watching his team for the first time after he completed the takeover recently.
After four losses and six draws at Stadio Ferraris, they overcame a few scares in the second half to eventually halt their losing streak.
With just one loss in their last ten league games and at least six clean sheets, Genoa has steadily risen in the standings thanks to Vieira's influence.
With just five points separating them from the drop zone, they are currently barely below Roma. However, a victory on Friday would put them ahead of their capital-city rivals.
The Ligurian team will also want to continue their five-game winning streak on the road, since they were defeated by Lazio in their most recent away trip to Rome in October.
Only Bryan Cristante is expected to miss Friday's match due to injury, which has aided Claudio Ranieri's efforts to bring Roma back to life.
With everyone else healthy, Ranieri might stick with the starting lineup that faced Bologna and Lazio. The Italy midfielder is expected to recover from an ankle injury next week.
Paulo Dybala and Artem Dovbyk would play in the front. The latter, who has recently found his form again and has contributed to four goals in his previous four league games, will celebrate a century of Roma appearances this weekend.
Milan Badelj, the captain of Genoa, added to the team's long list of absences last week when he pulled up with a hamstring issue during the victory over Parma.
Once more, the Grifone's attack is led by top scorer Andrea Pinamonti, while maverick striker Mario Balotelli is relegated to the bench.
