European Qualifying on the Line in Serie A
Marco Iacobucci EPP / Shutterstock.com
The title race is not over in Serie A but there is also plenty to play for below Juventus and Napoli as teams compete for Champions League and Europa League positions.
Lazio meet Atalanta on Sunday in a game which could go a long way in deciding who finishes in the top four and who finishes in the Europa League places. Lazio start the match in 4th place, level on 70 points with 3rd place Roma and 4 points clear of 5th place Inter Milan.
Atalanta start the game in 6th place, 1 point clear of 7th place AC Milan. Atalanta know they must win this game if they want to ensure they stay in the final Europa League position.
Lazio come into this match having defeated Torino 1-0 away from home last weekend. That was their third league win in a row and trends show Lazio have remained undefeated in their last eight Serie A games.
In fact, Lazio have lost only one of their last twelve games in all competitions and that came at Salzburg in the Europa League.
Lazio are undefeated in their last four Serie A home matches but have been held by both Roma and Bologna. They have kept a clean sheet in their last two home league games and Lazio have a good record against Atalanta, winning six of their last seven meetings at the Stadio Olimpico.
Atalanta travel to the Italian capital having won each of their last three Serie A games. Atalanta have defeated Torino and Genoa at home plus Benevento on the road. Atalanta were in good goal scoring form in each of those games, scoring an average of 2.33 goals per game.
Trends show Atalanta have been tough to beat away from home in recent Serie A matches and have won seven of their last ten, including 2-0 wins at AC Milan and Roma. Atalanta have lost just one of their last eleven league games and that came at the home of the defending champions, Juventus.
Only once in their last eleven away Serie A matches have Atalanta failed to score and they will be hoping to trouble the Lazio defence in this game.
Looking ahead to the team news and Lazio are set to be without their top goal scorer this season, Ciro Immobile. The Italian striker has a muscle problem and could be out for the remainder of the campaign. Lazio are also without the injured duo of Stefan Radu and Marco Parolo.
Atalanta make the trip to the Stadio Olimpico with a full bill of health. The only player unavailable is the suspended Mattia Caldara and he should be replaced in defence by Jose Luis Palomino.
Lazio will be missing their main goal threat in this game and Atalanta will see this as an opportunity to pick up another good result away from home. However, Lazio have been hard to beat and are on a good run of form, meaning they could win this match by a narrow margin.
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