Manu Koné nears return from injury ahead of Manchester United and Sassuolo fixtures

Manu Koné is getting closer to a return to action for Roma, with his recovery progressing well ahead of the club's trip to Napoli. The midfielder has been sidelined since the Champions League match against Real Madrid on 14 October, when he suffered a muscle injury. He was found to have a first-degree tear of the right hamstring. Roma are short on numbers for the difficult trip to the Maradona, and Gian Piero Gasperini's side are also dealing with a squad reduced to the bare minimum. In the infirmary, there is also encouraging news about Paulo Dybala, who is pushing to speed up his own timetable and is aiming to return already on Tuesday against Cagliari. Koné is expected to be available again between the Champions League match against Manchester United on 3 November and the Serie A fixture against Sassuolo the following weekend. That timeline points to his return coming at the start of November, when Roma face a demanding run of fixtures. Il Messaggero reports in today's edition that Koné is increasingly close to a comeback, and the French midfielder's return is now a step away. Roma will be hoping that the 3 November Champions League tie against Manchester United and the Sassuolo game give Gasperini a fully fit midfielder to call on once again.

Napoli host Roma at the Maradona today at 18:00 in a fixture between two coaches who have already faced each other 31 times, with Max Allegri and Gian Piero Gasperini set to make it 32 meetings. Allegri is looking to confirm that Napoli have begun their climb back up the table, while Gasperini wants to convince himself that Roma deserve to be near the top and, in the process, send his counterpart 10 points further adrift. The rivalry dates back to 2008 and has been shaped by two very different approaches. Allegri has mostly worn the smart clothes of top-level clubs, while Gasperini has spent far more time in a tracksuit. The result is opposing methodologies and philosophies of work. Gasperini's record against Allegri is the more telling part of the story: Allegri's more cautious style has come out on top so far, with 14 wins to 6 in his favour. Still, the table is weighing most heavily on Napoli. In the Napoli line-up, Allegri continues to rely on his best players, with De Bruyne acting as the playmaker who sees everything from deep and retains the licence to attack. Hojlund is the chosen centre-forward. For Roma, the injury to Pellegrini is a heavy blow, removing the second-most skilled player at supplying Malen, behind Dybala. Both will be missing today, and Gasperini will probably entrust the role to Cristante, with the dual aim of shadowing De Bruyne. The preview was written by Monica Scozzafava and Davide Stoppini for Il Corriere della Sera.

Cristante is in Roma's squad for the trip to Napoli, according to the squad list published by Il Messaggero. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini is short in the final third, with Pellegrini, Dybala, Svilar and Koné all sidelined. He has only Mora and Soulé behind Malen, and is considering playing Cristante further forward. The squad list names Balerdi, Ghilardi, Hermoso, Koulierakis, Lulli, Mancini, Molina, N'Dicka, Rensch and Wesley in defence; Cristante, De Roon, Mora and Pisilli in midfield; and Malen, Soulé and Castro in attack. Camara and Di Nunzio are also listed. The situation is serious enough that Roma are expected to act in the January transfer window. The club must spend to give Gasperini at least two reinforcements between attack and the flanks. Gittens and Leweling remain on the list, and the club has not ruled out the complicated pursuit of Endrick. A new left-back name has emerged: Alejandro Balde of Barcelona, who is finding few minutes under Flick and has been offered by Jorge Mendes. His name joins that of Oosterwolde. Sky Sport reports that Roma are close to the final details of a contract renewal for Lulli, which would run to 2031. The deal has not yet been officially announced, and the last points must be settled before it is formalised. Speaking to Corriere dello Sport at the Amsterdam stop of the EA7 World Legends Padel Tour, Stekelenburg was asked about Svilar. He said: "If I had to put him in the top five... no, not yet. After all, there are Courtois, Neuer and others. But he is a young lad and he is doing an excellent job. He just has to keep growing." Asked to choose between Højlund and Malen if he were a sporting director, Graziani said: "Malen without thinking twice. Hojlund I like a lot, and sometimes he looks to me like a 'little Lukaku' the way he leads the attack and the physical battles he takes on, and he has a great sense of goal; but Malen is my ideal striker, for the way he attacks space, for his dribbling, for the acceleration he has in the last twenty metres and because he can roam across the whole attacking front."