Serie A is back in action with the penultimate round of fixtures as Roma and Lazio go head-to-head at the Stadio Olimpico in the 154th top-flight Derby della Capitale. Coming off the back of a 3-1 loss to newly-crowned champions Inter Milan, the Giallorossi are hoping to bounce back against familiar foes.
Paulo Fonseca’s last home match in charge of Roma pits him against a Lazio side he has failed to defeat in any of his three Serie A encounters as a head coach (D2, L1). The 48-year-old manager will be keen to end his decent two-year stint in the Italian capital with a victory against arch-rivals.
Fonseca’s Lazio counterpart Simone Inzaghi has led his team to four consecutive Serie A derbies against Roma without a loss (W2, D2). The last time the Biancocelesti enjoyed a longer unbeaten run against bitter rivals was back in 1998.
Roma vs Lazio Head-To-Head
Roma haven’t lost any of their last three Serie A matches against Lazio as nominal hosts (W2, D1) despite failing to keep a clean sheet on each occasion. Most of the action across those fixtures took place after the half-time break, with six of the nine goals seen in those meetings coming in the second half of play.
Goals from Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto (two) gave Lazio a comprehensive 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in mid-January. The Biancocelesti might now win back-to-back capital derbies in Serie A for the first time since 2012.
Having managed to shut Roma out in the abovementioned clash, Lazio could also keep consecutive clean sheets in Serie A matches against them for the first time since the 2006/07 campaign.
Despite Roma’s recent wobble against Lazio, the Giallorossi have scored far more goals than their opposition in the Derby della Capitale in Serie A – 191 compared to Lazio’s 151.
Teams Recent Forms
Roma’s drastic dip in form has seen them seal just one win in their last six Serie A outings (D1, L4), conceding 2+ goals on four occasions in that period. Indeed, only Parma and Benevento have suffered more defeats than the Giallorossi in the last six league fixtures.
Bringing the 2019/20 season into the equation, Fonseca’s men have lost just twice in their last 22 Serie A matches at home. Both of those defeats arrived this calendar year at the hands of Napoli and AC Milan, respectively.
Notably, Roma take the field as the only side in Serie A to reach a 20-goal milestone in terms of the goals scored in each half of home league action played so far.
On the other hand, Lazio grabbed a late winner through Immobile to defeat shifting Parma 1-0 at home in midweek. That victory means the Biancocelesti have not drawn a single Serie A game since a 1-1 stalemate with Genoa in their first league match of the new calendar year.
Only relegated Crotone (three) have played out fewer draws than Lazio (four) this Serie A campaign.
The clean sheet has been a common theme in Lazio’s recent away Serie A matches as three of the last four have seen one side fail to get on the scoresheet. But the visitors have gone from two consecutive away league wins to back-to-back defeats, both of which saw them concede a first-half opener and succumb to a losing margin of 2+ goals.
Of all the teams currently relaxing in the upper half of the table, the Biancocelesti have conceded most away Serie A goals this term (28). Action-packed football in the later stages of play is very much on the cards as each of Lazio’s last eight league games on the road has seen at least once strike on or beyond the 80th minute.
Predicted Line-ups
Roma (4-2-3-1): Daniel Fuzato; Davide Santon, Gianluca Mancini, Marash Kumbulla, Rick Karsdorp; Bryan Cristante, Gonzalo Villar; Lorenzo Pellegrini, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pedro; Edin Dzeko
Lazio (3-5-2): Pepe Reina; Stefan Radu, Francesco Acerbi, Adam Marusic; Mohamed Fares, Manuel Lazzari, Lucas Leiva, Danilo Cataldi, Luis Alberto; Joaquin Correa, Ciro Immobile