Serie A Preview: Roma Try to Bounce Back Against Lazio

AS Roma vs SS Lazio

Football season is in full swing, and all the big clubs in Europe are busy establishing their dominance in domestic competitions while they try to become the best in Europe. After all, they cannot compete in the Champions League if they struggle to win games on home soil.

However, that hasn’t been the case for Roma. The Serie A giants have struggled to notch consecutive wins as they lost to clubs that are supposedly weaker than them. They have finally broken the rut, but their next match is anything but easy.

Lazio have bounced back after a horrible start to the campaign, and they are tough opponents to face be it at home or away. They will be coming to Stadio Olimpico on the back of a superb winning streak that includes an emphatic victory against Genoa.

Eusebio Di Francesco knows that this match will be anything but easy, and he must make sure that his team’s good form in their last game stays in this Derby della Capitale. SBOBET tips will be tough on them, but his I Giallorossi will be more than up for the challenge.

Talking Points

Serie A 2018 News: Can Roma finally make a great comeback as they face Lazio? — Eusebio Di Francesco’s men are eyeing to win against Lazio

Roma definitely didn’t plan to start the season in this manner. After all, they played brilliant football against Barcelona during the International Champions Cup in the preseason and won their season opener against Torino.

However, it was from this moment that their struggles began. They drew against Atalanta in a high-scoring battle to be followed by a bitter defeat at San Siro. What followed was a string of embarrassing results.

They lost to former Serie A team Benevento in a friendly, unable to score a goal until they were down 2-0 at the tail-end of the match. Following that loss was another disappointing 2-2 draw against bottom feeders Chievo.

The biggest Serie A 2018 news, however, is their 2-0 defeat to Bologna in front of their own fans. They were terribly inefficient on the attack and weren’t able to convert a single one of their 11 accurate shot attempts. The game was so bad that owner James Pallotta didn’t mince his words when it came to what he thought of the game.

There’s no question that Eusebio Di Francesco is under fire after this string of events, and not even their 4-0 victory over Frosinone can erase his earlier shortcomings. He must get his men together and pull off a superb result against Lazio if he wants to keep his job.

He must learn to integrate Steven Nzonzi and Javier Pastore more effectively into the side and open up more opportunities for Edin Dzeko to score. While Stephan El Shaarawy is doing a fantastic job at the wing, they still need their ace striker to score goals.

Roma aren’t the only side that suffered defeats early this season. Juventus’ Miralem Pjanic got a brace in a one-sided rout that forced I Biancocelesti to start their season with a two-game losing streak. It did seem for a while that they wouldn’t be able to compete with the rest of the Europe-chasing teams for a while.

However, Simone Inzaghi managed to turn his team’s form around with their next couple of games. They started with a 1-0 win versus Frosinone, followed by another 0-1 win against Empoli. Their next three games saw them dominate against Genoa and Udinese in the domestic league. Cyprus club Apollon Limassol also got a taste of Lazio’s resurgence at Stadio Olimpico as they lost 2-1.

There are a good number of players that can be identified as keys to Lazio’s success. Ciro Immobile has brought in three goals in five appearances. Lucas Leiva, Francesco Acerbi and Wallace have been solid on the defensive end. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who chose to stay at Lazio despite interest from other clubs, is also a solid presence in the midfield.

With Lazio playing on such incredible form, I have doubts as to whether Roma can manage a result here at all.

History

The Derby della Capitale has always been a hotly contested affair, and there’s enough room for Roma supporters to bloat about against their sky-blue team-mates.

They won 22 out of the 54 games they have played, with I Giallorossi winning 13 of those as the home team. Lazio won 16 of those games, and the remaining 16 results were draws. The last six games also tip in favour of Roma as they won three of those games, one of which was a superb 0-2 away win.

However, it is also important to note the context of the last six games. Two of those games were the 2017 Copa Italia games, wherein Lazio progressed after scoring two away goals. Their last game of the 2016/17 season also ended with Lazio winning 1-3. The latest game they played on April 16 ended in a scoreless draw.

Betting Tip

	AS Roma vs SS Lazio	Total Goals 2-3 @ 2.02
	September 29, 21:00

There are multiple Roma vs Lazio predictions to be made here, and I am leaning towards a Lazio victory. However, I have no doubt that goals will be scored by either side, so there’s no reason not to go for the Total Goals market.

I do think that Roma will step up to the plate this time around as they are playing their biggest rivals of the season. The fans place great emphasis on winning against their opponents here, so I see this being an entertaining match with goals being scored.

I have no reason to think that this game would at least see a 0-2 scoreline for Lazio. However, I wouldn’t count Roma out of this one. It could also end up with Roma scoring lots and getting three goals while keeping a clean sheet.