Lazio-Empoli is a Serie A Week 17 match played on Sunday at 15:00: odds, predictions, TV and streaming
Tension is running high in the Lazio dressing room after the comeback in Salento in their first outing of 2023, which cost Inter Milan an overtake and their fourth defeat of the season.
Maurizio Sarri found it hard to accept the inexplicable drop his men had suffered after taking the lead in Lecce through a comebacker Immobile – the Biancocelesti striker struck for the umpteenth time on the first day of a calendar year – and he did not mince his words in his press conference, as he usually does. Perhaps with the aim of grooming a group that is no stranger to blackouts of this kind this season. First Strefezza and then Colombo prevented the Capitolini from turning over a new leaf after the ugly knockout they suffered before the break, sinking 3-0 at the Allianz Stadium against Juventus. It was a double faux pas that moved Lazio away from the Champions League zone and dropped Immobile and his team-mates to fifth place, joined by Roma’s cousins, who at the same time got the better of Bologna.
Sarri on the rampage
Nothing is lost yet, but the Tuscan coach will clearly have to work on the heads of his players so that there will be no more lapses like those at the ‘Via del Mare’, especially against opponents within the Biancoceleste team’s reach.
Vicario
To turn the page immediately Sarri asks for a way back to an important piece of his past, that Empoli that was his springboard to the big stages. After six days, Paolo Zanetti’s Azzurri returned to a positive result in an away game, drawing 1-1 on a notoriously hostile pitch such as Udine, also thanks to the third goal scored by the class of ’03 Baldanzi. They have five points less than last year but still seem to be on their way to another quiet salvation, keeping themselves well away from the relegation zone at the moment.
Lazio v Empoli: latest line-up news
Sarri can field the best possible line-up. The blow suffered by Immobile in Lecce is of no concern: the Biancocelesti striker will play in the centre of the attacking trident along with Felipe Anderson and Zaccagni, the latter favoured over Pedro. In midfield, Vecino should get the better of Luis Alberto, the protagonist of yet another squabble with the coach after the Lecce slip-up.
On the other side, Zanetti will have to renounce ex-former Akpa Akpro, who was sent off against Udinese: his place will be taken by Bandinelli, who will complete the midfield trio also formed by Haas and Marin. Baldanzi confirmed in the three-quarter, behind Satriano and Caputo.
The prediction
Empoli have never beaten Lazio in their last six previous fixtures. And since the 2000s every away trip to the Olimpico has almost always been synonymous with defeat. What is more, the Azzurri have never managed to put a big side in trouble this year and are unlikely to snatch any points from Sarri’s side, who are looking to bounce back after two consecutive defeats. Lazio favourites in a match in which the total number of goals will be at least two.
Lazio v Empoli matchday squad
- LAZIO (4-3-3): Provedel; Lazzari, Casale, Romagnoli, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Vecino; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Zaccagni.
- EMPOLI (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Ismajli, Luperto, Parisi; Haas, Marin, Bandinelli; Baldanzi; Caputo, Satriano.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-0
