On Saturday, 30th March, as part of the 30th round of the Italian Serie A, Lazio will host Juventus at their ground. A defeat of Turin in the championship and cup in the next few days will nearly certainly wrap up the season for the hosts, whereas biancocelesti are experiencing one of their worst streaks since their return to the elite division in 2007.
Lazio: Mandas; Gila, Romagnoli, Casale; Lazzari, Guendouzi, Cataldi, Marusic; Alberto, Zaccagni; Immobile.
Juventus: Szczesny; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Cambiaso, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Chiesa, Kean.
The match will take place in Rome at the Stadio Olimpico.
This season, Lazio sits only 9th in the Serie A table, and Champions League qualification seems quite elusive. On the other hand, making the top three or four remains within Roman reach. After three consecutive defeats by Fiorentina (2:1), AC Milan (0:1), and Udinese (1:2), senior management of the capital club decided to part ways with Maurizio Sarri. Under interim manager Giovanni Martusciello, Lazio achieved a 2:3 triumph over struggling Frosinone a fortnight ago (Tati Castellanos had a brace), whereas over the international break, Igor Tudor was appointed as the eagles' manager.
When the Croatian last worked in Serie A, only Inter, Lazio and Napoli scored more goals than his Verona. Recently, biancocelesti suffered a demise at the hands of Bayern in the Champions League round of 16 (1:3 on aggregate), but they did make it to the Semifinals of the Coppa Italia, where they're due to face off against Juventus.
Completely out of the Scudetto running but with all the odds to feature in next Champions League, Juventus currently holds 3rd place in the Serie A overall standing and is 8 points clear of 5th-placed Roma. After a successful first half-season, the Piedmontese have had a rough go of late: in the recent eight rounds, bianconeri have only claimed victory once, whereas they've drawn four times and gone down thrice. After a defeat by Napoli (2:1), they split points with Atalanta (2:2) and Genoa before the international break (0:0).
Additionally, since end-January, Juve have amassed only 7 points in eight championship matches, eclipsed in futility only by Serie A underdogs Salernitana, Frosinone, and Sassuolo during the same span. Next Tuesday, the Old Lady takes on Lazio at home in the first-leg Coppa Italia semifinal, and in case of near-term disappointments, Allegri may lose his job. By the way, Juve ranks third in the away performance table of Serie A: they've collected 27 points in 14 outings, having netted 22 and conceded 13.
In the first leg, Lazio fell to Juventus 3:1 away, while at home they've lost to bianconeri only once in recent four encounters.
Adjustment to Tudor's game demands might take some time from the capital club players, though the current shape of Turin doesn't bode well for the visitors. Considering the loss of Dusan Vlahovic for Juve and the supportive crowd at the Olimpico, it's reasonable to bet on the hosts not losing this Saturday at the very least.
Juventus can't rely on Milik and Vlahovic, and without them, the attacking potential of the team is severely reduced. I bet on the visitors' individual total under 1.5 goals.
Lazio won't be retreating to their own half in front of their home crowd and will regularly threaten the opposition's goal. I bet on the eagles' individual total over 4.5 corners.
The last two face-to-face encounters between these clubs totaled 13 yellow cards, so I predict the total number of bookings to be over 4.5.
I am betting on a 1:0 exact scoreline in favour of Lazio.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Napoli | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 18:8 | 25 | |
2 | Inter | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 25:13 | 24 | |
3 | Atalanta | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 29:14 | 22 | |
4 | Fiorentina | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 22:9 | 22 | |
5 | Lazio | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 24:14 | 22 | |
6 | Juventus | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 19:7 | 21 | |
7 | AC Milan | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 17:11 | 17 | |
8 | Udinese | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | -2 | 14:16 | 16 | |
9 | Bologna | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 12:11 | 15 | |
10 | Empoli | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | -1 | 9:10 | 15 | |
11 | Torino | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | -1 | 15:16 | 14 | |
12 | AS Roma | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | -2 | 12:14 | 13 | |
13 | Verona | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | -8 | 16:24 | 12 | |
14 | Como | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -10 | 13:23 | 10 | |
15 | Genoa | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -13 | 9:22 | 10 | |
16 | Parma | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | -3 | 14:17 | 9 | |
17 | Cagliari | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -10 | 9:19 | 9 | |
18 | Lecce | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -16 | 5:21 | 9 | |
19 | Monza | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | -4 | 10:14 | 8 | |
20 | Venezia | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -9 | 10:19 | 8 | |
1 | Lazio | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14:6 | 16 | |
2 | Napoli | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11:5 | 15 | |
3 | Inter | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15:8 | 13 | |
4 | Atalanta | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18:7 | 12 | |
5 | Udinese | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8:6 | 12 | |
6 | Fiorentina | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11:5 | 11 | |
7 | Juventus | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7:3 | 10 | |
8 | AC Milan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10:4 | 10 | |
9 | AS Roma | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7:4 | 9 | |
10 | Verona | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10:12 | 9 | |
11 | Lecce | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:13 | 8 | |
12 | Bologna | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4:3 | 7 | |
13 | Torino | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5:5 | 7 | |
14 | Empoli | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1:4 | 6 | |
15 | Venezia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5:5 | 6 | |
16 | Como | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7:10 | 5 | |
17 | Parma | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8:10 | 5 | |
18 | Cagliari | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4:11 | 5 | |
19 | Genoa | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6:12 | 4 | |
20 | Monza | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5:8 | 3 | |
1 | Inter | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10:5 | 11 | |
2 | Fiorentina | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11:4 | 11 | |
3 | Juventus | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12:4 | 11 | |
4 | Napoli | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7:3 | 10 | |
5 | Atalanta | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11:7 | 10 | |
6 | Empoli | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8:6 | 9 | |
7 | Bologna | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8:8 | 8 | |
8 | AC Milan | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7:7 | 7 | |
9 | Torino | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10:11 | 7 | |
10 | Lazio | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10:8 | 6 | |
11 | Genoa | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3:10 | 6 | |
12 | Como | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6:13 | 5 | |
13 | Monza | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:6 | 5 | |
14 | Udinese | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6:10 | 4 | |
15 | AS Roma | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5:10 | 4 | |
16 | Parma | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6:7 | 4 | |
17 | Cagliari | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5:8 | 4 | |
18 | Verona | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6:12 | 3 | |
19 | Venezia | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5:14 | 2 | |
20 | Lecce | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0:8 | 1 |
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