Roma vs Lazio Preview – Prediction, how to watch & potential line-ups

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Football Today

·5 November 2022

Roma vs Lazio Preview – Prediction, how to watch & potential line-ups

A day of reckoning sees Roma and Lazio go head-to-head in one of the most iconic Serie A fixtures.

The 159th top-flight Derby della Capitale takes place at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday afternoon and has all the makings of a top-four six-pointer.

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Fourth-placed Roma followed up a last-gasp 3-1 triumph at relegation-battling Hellas Verona with a come-from-behind 2-1 home win over Ludogorets in midweek Europa League action.

Captain Lorenzo Pellegrini converted two second-half penalties drawn by Nicolo Zaniolo to earn the Giallorossi a place in the Europa League knock-out stages at the death.

Inspired by the fruitful week, Jose Mourinho’s side will be hellbent on retaining the bragging rights following an emphatic 3-0 victory over Lazio in March.

In stark contrast to Roma’s purple patch, Maurizio Sarri’s men have had a week to forget.

Only a few days after surrendering a half-time lead in a morale-damaging 3-1 home defeat to mid-table Salernitana, Lazio fell to a 1-0 Europa League loss at Feyenoord.

An uneventful showing in the Netherlands condemned the Biancocelesti to a third-place finish in Group F, curtailing their effort to qualify for Europe’s second-tier knock-outs for the second season on the spin.

Keen to rectify their mistakes, Sarri’s team will be out to take all three points and Roma’s place in the Serie A standings, with only one point separating the arch-rivals at the start of this round.

Match Preview

Roma

Except for a 1-0 home loss to Napoli a fortnight ago, Roma have won four of their last five Serie A outings despite conceding precisely once in three of those victories.

With 25 points from the opening 12 Serie A rounds, Mourinho’s lads have amassed six more than at this stage of last season, accounting for the most noticeable improvement in terms of points among the current top-seven sides.

That bodes well for Roma’s bid to end a run of consecutive league defeats to Lazio staged in the first half of the season and maintain an impressive streak of five undefeated H2H meetings as nominal hosts (W4, D1).

Lazio

Before Salernitana ran riot at the Stadio Olimpico, Lazio had been on a six-game unbeaten Serie A run (W5, D1), while they’ve yet to lose a league match as a visiting side (W3, D2).

However, after losing to Roma earlier his year, the Biancocelesti could go back-to-back top-flight H2Hs without scoring for the first time since 2013/14.

Ciro Immobile could prove a catalyst to take the bragging rights back to Lazio after netting four times in the Serie A Derby della Capitale to become the club’s third-best scorer in this fixture.

But he faces a race against time to make himself available for selection.

Roma vs Lazio Potential Line-ups

Roma (3-4-2-1): Rui Patricio; Gianluca Mancini, Chris Smalling, Roger Ibanez; Rick Karsdorp, Bryan Cristante, Nemanja Matic, Nicola Zalewski; Nicolo Zaniolo, Lorenzo Pellegrini; Tammy Abraham.

Lazio (4-3-3): Ivan Provedel; Manuel Lazzari, Nicolo Casale, Alessio Romagnoli, Adam Marusic; Matias Vecino, Danilo Cataldi, Luis Alberto; Pedro, Felipe Anderson, Mattia Zaccagni.