LAZIO – NAPOLI | Saturday 8:45pm
Not a match like any other for Maurizio Sarri, who has left indelible memories in Naples, even coming close to a Scudetto. The Tuscan coach is in his second season on the bench of Lazio, where he is struggling to open a new winning cycle after that of Simone Inzaghi, who brought several national cups and a Champions League qualification to the capital. In the market, the biancocelesti have changed a lot, buying players who are more functional to the coach’s ideas of the game, but the real feat has been to manage to keep all the big players, including Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
The question, at this point legitimate, is how far this Lazio team can go. Whether it can improve on last year’s fifth place and make its way into the Europa League. Impossible to answer now, also because the results of the first four days of the championship make Immobile and his teammates even more indecipherable. At home, Sarri’s men have beaten Bologna but above all Inter, demonstrating a certain aptitude for doing well in direct confrontations. There were more shadows than lights on the away side: we refer to the dull 0-0 in Turin against Juric’s granata and the 1-1 in Genoa with Sampdoria, who in the midweek round reeled in the Biancoceleste team at the last gasp with Gabbiadini.
Lazio-Napoli: the latest line-up news
Zielinski
Good news from the infirmary for Sarri: both Romagnoli and Felipe Anderson, who both left the Marassi match with injuries, are available again. Nothing serious for them. The ex-Milanista will return to lead the defence along with Patric, while the latter will complete the offensive trident with Immobile and Pedro: the Spaniard, however, remains in the running with Zaccagni. Neither Luis Alberto nor Cataldi are sure of their place: turnover in sight?
As for Napoli, Spalletti will return to the standard formation after the numerous changes made against Lecce. Lobotka and Zielinski will be back, along with Rrahmani and Mario Rui in defence and especially Kvaratskhelia in attack. Demme is unavailable.
The Prediction
The Olimpico has recently been a land of conquest for Napoli, who have won four of their last five matches. But at the moment it is difficult to imagine an Azzurri victory, especially bearing in mind Lazio’s excellent home performances and the problems the partenopei had in scoring goals against Fiorentina and Lecce. The fact that the Europa League is on the doorstep for both will probably also play a role. The draw option can therefore be explored, in a match that should not be short on goals: the total number of goals is likely to be more than two.
Lazio v Napoli likely lineup
- LAZIO (4-3-3): Provedel; Lazzari, Patric, Romagnoli, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Pedro.
- NAPOLI (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim, Mario Rui; Lobotka, Zambo Anguissa, Zielinski; Lozano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.
