Lazio In Need of a Win
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The final match of the weekend in Serie A sees Lazio welcome Hellas Verona to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
With Roma having won their match on Saturday, Lazio have fallen 4 points behind their local rivals in pursuit of a top four place. However, Inter Milan’s defeat at the hands of Genoa means a win for Lazio here will see them move up to fourth.
Hellas Verona travel to the capital in desperate need for points as they battle to stay in Serie A. Even a win would not be good enough to lift them out of the relegation zone but will at least give them some belief for the remainder of the campaign.
Lazio have been struggling for wins in recent weeks and need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible if they hope to keep pace with Roma. Having enjoyed a great run of form in December and January, Lazio have lost four of their last five games, with the other being a 0-0 draw at AC Milan in the Coppa Italia.
Simone Inzaghi’s team lost their Europa League first leg clash 1-0 in Romania to Steaua Bucharest and have lost each of their last three Serie A matches. There have been defeats at AC Milan, Napoli and at home to Genoa.
However, Lazio continue to score goals and trends show they have scored an average of 2.64 goals in home league games this season and there have been over 2.5 goals in each of their last six Serie A games.
Hellas Verona come into this match on the back of a 2-0 defeat at Sampdoria last weekend. Time is beginning to run out for them at the bottom end of the table and they will be looking to their last but one away fixture for inspiration, when they won 4-1 at Fiorentina.
However, that has been their only win in their last seven Serie A games, with six defeats including losses at Udinese and Napoli plus home defeats to Juventus, Crotone and Roma.
Defensively, Hellas Verona have been poor this season, conceding 48 goals in 24 matches at an average of 2 goals per game. Trends show they have also failed to score in four of their last five Serie A games and improvement is needed at both ends of the pitch.
Team news and Lazio will be without the suspended Lucas Leiva and with Davide Di Gennaro injured, Senad Lulic will start in midfield alongside Marco Parolo.
Alessio Cerci will miss this match for Hellas Verona due to injury and Alex Ferrari is also a doubt. Thomas Heurtaux is expected to come into the team at right-back if Ferrari is unavailable.
This seems like the perfect match for Lazio to get back to winning ways. Hellas Verona have been conceding plenty of goals and Lazio have little trouble finding the back of the net, so we could see a home win with over 2.5 goals scored.
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