FLORENCE - Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu has fanned the flames ahead of Wednesday's top-of-the-table clash with Roma by claiming he is as good as Francesco Totti.
Former Italy forward Totti has been ruled out of the midweek encounter with a thigh injury, but Romania international Mutu has nevertheless been comparing himself to the Eternal City club's skipper.
Mutu said: "He scores more goals than me, but in the last 20 yards I'm better."
The 'Phenomenon', as he is known in Florence, continued: "He is a great player, but I'm not inferior. He is definitely amongst the top players in the world and the fact that he has given up playing for the national team is a big loss for Italy.
"I believe I can be considered as good as Totti."
The Viola head into the clash in fourth spot in the table, having picked up two wins and two draws from their opening four matches.
Mutu added: "It is still early but it would be really great to be top of the championship after the match on Wednesday."
Fabio Liverani and Manuel Pasqual look set to return to the hosts' starting XI in place of Zdravko Kuzmanovic and Federico Balzaretti, who will both return to the bench. Danish winger Martin Jorgensen looks set to be out for around another week.
Giampaolo Pazzini keeps his place up front ahead of Christian Vieri who remains on the bench.
Visiting Roma will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the table. The Giallorossi are currently two points clear after getting off to an excellent start this season - three wins and a draw from four matches.
In the last round they were held at home by Juventus to a 2-2 draw.
The two goals scored by the Bianconeri were the first the Roman defence has conceded this season, with Brazilian goalkeeper Alexander Doni looking in the form of his career.
Coach Luciano Spalletti felt his side were excellent and deserved more than the one point. "Tomorrow when I look the players in the face I will tell them they played an excellent match and deserved to have won," he said at Sunday's post-match press conference.
"We created many chances but when the result finishes like this it has to be accepted. It didn't seem to me like Juventus could have drawn level but there was a frenzy towards the final whistle," he conceded.
He will be disappointed to learn that two other key players - Marco Cassetti and Simone Perrotta - are also unavailable along with Totti.
Full-back Cassetti will not play any part against Fiorentina as he picked up an injury against Juve. He looks set to be out for up to a month with veteran defender Cristian Panucci taking over.
David Pizarro will fill the void left by Perrotta after he suffered a bout of gastroenteritis on Monday night, while Mirko Vucinic looks set to deputise for Totti.
