Lazio vs Roma

Lazio and Roma face off in yet another edition of the Roma derby at the Stadio Olimpico in what will be the final match of week 29 in Serie A. The two sides are coming off of positive results over the weekend with Lazio having held out for a point on the road in their last match, while Roma scored an impressive come from behind victory at home over none other than AC Milan.

Lazio come into the derby in 11^th place of the Serie A table. They have 34 points on the present campaign and this leaves them 1 point behind 10^th place Genoa and 1 point up on 12^th place Napoli. Last week they were able to return from their visit to the Stadio Friuli with a point following a 2-2 draw against Udinese. Delio Rossi’s side are on a 4 match unbeaten run which includes 2 victories. Rossi is well aware that a victory in this match would go a long way towards salvaging Lazio’s season in the eyes of their supporters, while at the same time dealing a devastating blow to Roma’s title hopes. There are some important injury concerns including Zauri, Mutarelli, Del Nero and Firmani who have all been ruled out but Lazio are still expected to go with an attacking style. The biancocelesti are set to start in a 4-3-1-2 with Pandev just behind Rocchi and Bianchi.

Roma are currently playing some of their best football of the season and are still alive in both the league title chase and the Champions League. The giallorossi are coming off of a dramatic, come from behind win over AC Milan at home last week by a score of 2-1. Thanks to that result, Roma were able to keep pace with Inter Milan. They sit in 2^nd place with 61 points, 6 behind the league leaders. Nedo Spaletti’s side are winners of 3 straight and 4 of their last 5 games. They have outscored their opponents by 10-2 over this stretch. The club also seems to be peaking in fitness at just the right time as there is a very good chance that Spaletti will have his entire squad available for the derby. While Totti is confirmed to start in attack, it will be interesting to see who gets the call on the left wing- Mancini or the impressive Vucinic.

While on paper Roma should be the favorite due to their impressive form when compared with Lazio’s season overall, you just never can tell with the Roman derby. In fact, over the last 8 derby matches between the two clubs, each side has won 2 while the other 4 ended in draws. The derby is different from any other match and this contest has all the makings of all out war.

Prediction: Draw (1-1)