Serie A: Juve and Lazio Picking Up Steam

Juventus vs Lazio

Juventus and Lazio are improving as of late so something has to give when they convene on Sunday in Turin.

The hosts are fresh from victories against Inter Milan and Hellas Verona to make it five Serie A wins on the bounce. Meanwhile, their visitors Lazio did their part by prevailing against Roma and Monza this week.

Valuable points are up for grabs since these two sides are only separated by two places and two points in the Italian top-flight table. A win for Juventus can push them up to second place, while the same result for Lazio would pull them closer to pacesetters Napoli.

This is arguably the Serie A affair to look forward to this matchday, so continue to read on below as SBOTOP previews this important game.

Talking Points

Juventus’ injury situation easing up

Max Allegri has been often criticised because of their bad start to the 2022-23 campaign. But now that they’ve been healthier, their Serie A 2022 results have improved.

In their last three away fixtures, Juventus haven’t conceded a single goal for the first time since 2018 and they’ve generated three in return. At home on the other hand, they also haven’t surrendered a goal in their last three but have scored nine goals.

Juve’s backline deserves a ton of credit as Gleison Bremer and Leonardo Bonucci have formed a strong centre-half partnership, while Wojciech Szczesny’s return from injury certainly has helped.

With top scorer Dusan Vlahovic on the sidelines, several men have stepped up on the other side of the pitch. In their derby victory over Inter Milan, Adrien Rabiot and Nicolo Fagioli scored at home, while Moise Kean delivered the winning goal in their 1-0 win against bottom feeders Hellas Verona.

Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa are both in training this week, hoping to make it back into Allegri’s starting lineup. Since moving to Italy, Vlahovic has scored four Serie A goals against Lazio – three of which were at home.

But it’s likely that Allegri will stick to what works as of the moment, so Moise Kean should start alongside Arek Milik up front while Rabiot will be joined by Filip Kostic and Manuel Locatelli in midfield.

Lazio now adjusting well sans Immobile

Maurizio Sarri seems to have found a way to cope with Ciro Immobile’s ongoing absence. With not much options up front, Sarri has been deploying Felipe Anderson as their false nine, which has been paying dividends.

The former West Ham winger scored the winning goal against AS Roma in the Derby della Capitale to improve his totals to four goals and four assists. Anderson is being used by Sarri similar to Dries Mertens at Napoli before, where the Belgian notched 28 goals in 35 games across all competitions until he left Naples last summer.

Like Juventus, Lazio’s injury list has eased up which should boost their chances of maintaining the second spot. Mattia Zaccagni’s calf knock is apparently not that serious, while Adam Marusic and Danilo Cataldi are set to return.

More importantly, Sergel Milinkovic-Savic will play his second straight match after serving his suspension against AS Roma. The Serbian midfielder is the club’s second leading scorer with five goals and seven assists this term.

History

Juventus are undefeated in 33 of their last 35 Serie A encounters versus Lazio (W25, D8).

I Bianconeri last tasted defeat against I Biancocelesti in December 2019 via a 3-1 scoreline where Maurizio Sarri suffered his first loss as Juventus coach. It was Lazio’s first home success over the Turin giants in the league since 2003.

Lazio have scored in each of their last three Serie A away games against Juventus and they could score in four consecutive away games against them for the first time since 2002 (12 before).

Juventus last failed to score in a Serie A match against Lazio in November 2012 in a goalless draw. Since then, I Bianconeri netted 37 goals in 19 games.

Betting Tip

Given that they’re in better form, the Serie A 2022 odds are backing Juventus. The hosts are priced at 2.05 to win, but Lazio aren’t far behind at 3.70 in the 1X2 market.

Since both of these teams have been solid at the back lately, we don’t expect a high-scoring contest in Turin. We believe that Juventus and Lazio will share the spoils – a result that would give you a decent payout at 3.20.

Correct Score 1-1 @ 6.00 and Total Goal 2-3 @ 1.90 are other bets to think about for this weekend’s match.

 

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