Serie A returns to action after taking a back seat for a fortnight as Lazio take on Juventus in Saturday’s mouth-watering clash at the Stadio Olimpico. It’s time to preview the game and take a look at the expected lineups.
Lazio headed into the international break on the back of a 3-0 home thrashing of newly-promoted Salernitana. Trailing fourth-placed Atalanta by a single point, the Biancocelesti will be aiming to register back-to-back Serie A clean sheets for the first time since January.
Meanwhile, Juan Cuadrado’s last-gasp winner catapulted Juventus to a precious 1-0 home victory over Fiorentina last time out. Having snapped a three-game winless Serie A streak, the Bianconeri could now post two league wins in a row for only the second time this season.
Lazio vs Juventus Head-to-Head
Despite their form wobble this term, Juventus have the recent H2H stakes firmly on their side. The record-time Italian champions have only lost two of their last 33 Serie A meetings with Lazio (W24, D7), both since 2017. What’s more, they have scored in 16 consecutive league visits to the capital.
Both last season’s top-flight encounters between these two sides saw the visitor on the day break the deadlock by the 15th minute, highlighting the potential for plenty of early action. Regardless of the outcome, neutrals could be in for a threat in Rome.
Each of the last six competitive match-ups between Lazio and Juventus have seen both teams on the scoresheet, with five of them featuring 3+ overall goals. Additionally, the Biancocelesti have found the net in their last three Serie A H2Hs as hosts after drawing a blank in four such contests beforehand.
Lazio Form Preview
Even though they’ve blown hot and cold in Maurizio Sarri’s early days in the dugout, Lazio have been a force to be reckoned with at home this season. Barring a 2-2 draw with Cagliari in mid-September, the Biancocelesti have won their remaining five Serie A home matches at the Stadio Olimpico by an aggregate score of 16-4.
After beating Salernitana and Fiorentina in their last two Serie A home games without conceding, Lazio could put together three consecutive top-flight home wins ‘to nil’ for the first time since October 2015. Sarri’s side should have enough character to bounce back if they fall behind, having won both league home fixtures in which they conceded first this term.
Alongside Bologna (11), Lazio are the only Serie A side to have hit double digits in terms of the second-half goals scored at home this season (10). Notably, they’ve found the net beyond the 75th minute in three of their six league home outings so far without conceding.
Juventus Form Preview
Juventus’ decision to sever ties with Andrea Pirlo and bring back Massimiliano Allegri to replace him has failed to pay dividends thus far. Though it’s been just 12 rounds of Serie A fixtures, the Bianconeri are already well off the title pace, as they sit a whopping 14 points adrift of the pacesetters, Napoli and AC Milan.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s heartbreaking departure late in the summer has left Juventus short of a reliable goalscorer. Indeed, they have scored precisely once in their last six Serie A outings and could go seven straight top-flight fixtures without bagging 2+ goals for the first time since October 2008.
There’s been plenty of late action in Juve’s Serie A travels this season. Five of their six league matches on the road have featured at least one goal on or beyond the 75-minute mark. However, they have failed to score before half-time in their last three Serie A road trips, which could be a concern heading into this fixture.
Lazio vs Juventus Predicted Lineups
Lazio (4-3-3): Pepe Reina; Manuel Lazzari, Luiz Felipe, Francesco Acerbi, Elseid Hysaj; Luis Alberto, Danilo Cataldi, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic; Felipe Anderson, Vedat Muriqi, Pedro.
Juventus (4-4-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Danilo, Leonardo Bonucci, Matthijs de Ligt, Alex Sandro; Juan Cuadrado, Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot; Alvaro Morata, Federico Chiesa.