Lazio v Roma Match Result
Lazio take on Roma on Sunday 21 September at the Stadio Olimpico. The bookies make the visitors slight favourites to beat their arch-rivals, with the team having finished fifth in the standings last term. They are managed by Gian Piero Gasperini who will be targeting a title assault and the Giallorossi have made a strong start to the campaign.
Roma were able to claim a 1-0 victory over Bologna and that came before a victory by the same scoreline at Pisa. However, they were unable to find the net last weekend and were stung 1-0 by Torino. They now head to their home ground to play an “away” fixture ahead of a Europa League clash at Nice.
The bookies give them a roughly 40% chance of toppling a Lazio side who have lost two of their opening three games. The Eagles were convincingly beaten 2-0 at Como in their opening match and they bounced back in style by wiping the floor with Verona. They enjoyed a flying start on that occasion, racing into an early 2-0 lead.
However, a 1-0 reverse away to Sassuolo means that there’s a fair amount of pressure on the shoulders of Maurizio Sarri before this clash. Lazio are regarded as the slight outsiders for this contest despite the fact that they will enjoy home advantage, with the team having drawn two blanks already. They will now be facing a Roma side who have only conceded one goal in the campaign to date.
With the teams having the potential to cancel each other out in a low-scoring encounter, then perhaps the draw is the best value on the 1x2 market. This covers the 0-0 and 1-1 scoreline, both of which could be viable outcomes.
Goals Under/Over
Under 2.5 Goals will be a banker bet in the eyes of many. All three of Roma’s games thus far have featured Under 1.5 Goals, with the visitors having claimed successive 1-0 victories before suffering a 1-0 defeat. Lazio’s two games either side of that 4-0 win over Verona also featured two goals or less. Therefore, it’s little surprise that the Unders is trading at relatively short odds.
If you think no more than a goal will be scored, then you can get attractive odds about zero or one being notched. It’s possible that the two teams will cancel each other out. It’s also a match which Lazio can ill-afford to lose. They have not started the campaign brightly and another defeat would leave them already playing catch-up. We’re thinking that a low goal count can be added to a Bet Builder along with other selections.
BTTS
Just like Under 2.5 Goals is trading at short odds, the same applies to BTTS No. However, there’s not a huge amount between BTTS No and BTTS Yes. All three of Lazio’s clashes have been BTTS No, with Maurizio Sarri’s side having suffered two wins to nil along with a bloodless victory against Verona.
However, the previous encounter between these two teams ended in a 1-1 draw. Back in April, there were no less than eleven shots registered on target, with seven coming from Lazio and four from Roma. The reverse fixture saw Roma land a 2-0 victory despite their rivals actually having a bigger shot count.
Previously to this, there were six consecutive BTTS No games, so history tells us that this is a likely outcome. Given Roma’s three games have all ended BTTS No this term, it’s easy enough to see at least one side failing to find the net. We actually think it could be worth backing the goalless draw and the teams would probably both be satisfied with that kind of outcome.
First Goalscorer
Lazio have only scored in one of their matches so far this season. However, there were four different scorers on that occasion. Mattia Zaccagni was recently involved for Italy in a World Cup qualifier and perhaps he’s the man who could hold the keys to unlock the Roma defence. The 30-year-old scored ten times for the Rome club last term and is likely to be leading the line here.
Argentina international Valentin Castellanos was also on the scoresheet against Verona and has always scored goals relatively regularly for Girona and Lazio. There were fourteen goals in all competitions for the twenty-six-year-old last term, with Boulaye Dia also notching fourteen and he might also be able to succeed in front of goal.
Roma were able to beat Bologna thanks to a Wesley strike on the opening day of the season, with that followed up by a goal from Matias Soule away to Pisa. The 22-year-old Argentinean has the potential to be a star of this side, with the forward having bagged in the Rome derby back in April when scoring an equaliser.