Lazio vs Genoa

Lazio and Genoa meet in a battle of clubs struggling to find consistency this season. The two clubs have combined for just 2 wins between them over the last 5 rounds and find themselves in the bottom half of the Serie A league table.

The home side Lazio are currently in 14^th place of the league table with 18 points for the year. This leaves them just behind AC Milan on goal difference and 1 point ahead of Torino. They are coming off of a 2-2 draw away to Palermo at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.

For this week’s match at home to Genoa the biancocelesti will be missing a number of players including Nigerian Stephen Makinwa who is away at the African Cup of Nations, and talented Argentine Cristian Ledesma who is serving a suspension. To say that manager Delio Rossi will be missing some creativity and pace in attack this week would be an understatement. The pressure will be on Rocchi and Pandev to provide the offense on their own. The two strikers have scored 5 and 7 goals respectively this season.

Genoa are doing a little better than Lazio and sit in 11^th place of the table with 19 points, 2 back of 10^th place Catania. Their last match saw them run out winners over Parma by a score of 1-0 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris at Marassi. Brazilian Danilo is the main injury concern for manager Giampiero Gasperini who looks set to continue his 3-4-3 featuring Borriello in attack. The striker has produced 8 goals so far in the present campaign. Criscito is the player slated to cover for Danilo on the left side. Genoa have been playing better of late on the road and have held out for a draw in their last 2 away contests.

The truth is that neither of these clubs have impressed this season and don’t seem capable of mounting a serious challenge for a UEFA Cup position. Genoa’s improving road form coupled with Lazio’s inability to scare anyone at home- they have won just 3 of 9 matches- seems to indicate a deadlock.

Prediction: Draw (1-1)

 

Champions league: Group C: REAL MADRID vs. LAZIO

Real Madrid are flying at the moment. They come into this final group C match at the Bernabeu stadium as confident La Liga leaders, and at the weekend notched up their eleventh league win in fifteen league games with a very complete performance away to Athletic Bilbao. At home their results have been even more impressive. They have won their last fifteen games in front of their own fans and I can’t see Lazio doing much to change this. The Italian side needs a win and hope the other group match between Olympiacos and Bremen ends in a draw.

I can’t see Madrid throwing away this opportunity to qualify for the next round of the Champions League. They should really have secured passage in the last game away to Bremen, but their away form in the year’s competition has been a bit frustrating where they have only earned two points from a possible nine, including a two-two draw against the Italians. However, I doubt if Lazio have the fear power to win this match, especially when Madrid have Iker Casillas in goal. His form this season has been a key factor in Real Madrid’s return to form, pulling off some breath taking saves and helping maintain the team’s conceded goals to a minimum. But it doesn’t stop with Casillas; practically the whole squad has responded and is in their best moment of form, especially Pepe, Van Nistelroy and the ever present Raul, who is La Liga’s top scorer at the moment.

Lazio are having a scrappy season so far. They are twelfth in the Serie A league and seventeen points from leaders Inter after fourteen games, as well as being bottom of their Champions League group at the moment. I doubt very much whether Lazio has it in them to beat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. The Spanish club’s home form has been astounding and they should win with ease.

Prediction: Home win (3-1)

Lazio vs Catania

Lazio return home to the Stadio Olimpico di Roma hoping to recover quickly from their bad loss away to Inter Milan in their Round 12 make up match. They will be up against a Catania outfit who put together one of their more polished performances of the season last week at home to Palermo.

The side managed by Delio Rossi have been victimized this season by mental gaffes at precisely the wrong moments at the defensive end and this has seen them concede an alarming 20 goals over their 14 matches. The lack of focus has been especially glaring when it comes to set pieces as markers have been missing their assignments repeatedly. Catania have not been much better than Lazio this season but given their history as being a lower league club, anything they accomplish in the first division is always reason for celebration. At this time they are in 10^th place of the Serie A table with 18 points while Lazio are 15^th with 14 points.

While Baldini’s club will have a couple of important absences this week such as Giacomo Tedesco who is out injured as well as being suspended for this match and the Uruguayan Jorge Martinez who is also suspended, Catania will continue to utilize their base 4-3-3 system. Midfielder Izco has been the player selected to cover for Tedesco on the outside right position while Colucci will swap places with Martinez. Martinez is currently leading the club in scoring with 5 goals. Lazio have not been a dominant club at home with just 2 wins in 7 matches and Catania feel they have as good a chance of taking the 3 points as they would have at home.

The Romans are in the middle of a rough spell which has seen them win just 1 of their last 5 matches. They did receive some good news this week on the injury front as both Stendardo and Goran Pandev, who had left the match against Inter Milan due to injury, have been given the green light to participate this week and Pandev is already penciled in as a starter. This match will also feature the return of Mutarelli who missed the last 3 matches due to suspension. These developments will allow Rossi to go with his typical 4-3-1-2 formation with Mauri as the play maker behind Rocchi and Pandev and the Argentine Ledesma sitting back in central midfield.

While Lazio have not been impressive at home this season, they should be able to find a way to get the job done this week. Catania have yet to win away from home this year and will be missing their top marksman. Failure to win for Lazio in the run up to their Champions League match against Real Madrid would put an enormous amount of pressure on Rossi and his side.

Prediction: Lazio 1-0

Inter Milan vs Lazio

Inter Milan came extremely close to a victory that would have been their most impressive of the season Round 11 when they played to a 1-1 draw away to Juventus. A goal 13 minutes from time did them in and keeps their lead over 2^nd place Fiorentina at 2 points. The result just reaffirms that it will be very difficult for Inter to run away with the Serie A title as they did in 2006-2007. Still, the fact remains that they are tops in the league at this moment and will now host the struggling Lazio at the Giuseppe Meazza at San Siro.

As with any club that has enjoyed so much success over the past few years, the biggest scandals that seem to revolve around the club pertain to squad selection. Brazilian striker Adriano has now been left off the list of players called up for this match by manager Roberto Mancini and it the 4^th straight week he will not even dress. As Adriano has no injury concerns it appears he simply fell in the managers dog house. His absence and the injury to Hernan Crespo means that Mancini will go with his regular striker combo of Ibrahimovic and Julio Cruz which is not too shabby indeed.

Lazio are currently in free fall mode. Just when it looked as though their season had hit a low point following the humiliating slaughter at home at the hands of AC Milan by a score of 1-5, they have proceeded to lose their next two matches at home as well to Udinese and Fiorentina. They have now fallen to 15^th place in the Serie A table with just 10 points from 11 matches. As if things weren’t bad enough for Delio Rossi’s side the injury list continues to get longer. In addition to the absences of Mutarelli, Diakite, Mauri and Siviglia, Lazio will also be without Serbian wide man Kolarov. Lazio, like many other clubs, appear to be making the UEFA Champions League their only priority this year. The midweek victory over German side Werder Bremen by a score of 2-1 has Lazio in first place of their group through 4 matches.

The way Inter have performed at home this season, winning 13 out of a possible 15 points makes them overwhelming favorites in this match. This is especially true given the number of absences that Lazio will carry into this match. The 3 straight losses at home have not helped improve their confidence level in the least bit and with the next round of the UEFA Champions League within reach it’s doubtful they will be as focused for this match as they are on those European nights.

Prediction: Home win (2-0)

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