Lazio will host AC Milan in the first match of the week in the Serie A. To maintain any slim aspirations of making it back to UEFA’s top competition the following season, Lazio needed to win this match to prepare for a crucial Champions League match against Bayern Munich the following week.
Preview (Lazio vs. AC Milan)
Last weekend, Lazio lost to Fiorentina in Tuscany, continuing their extremely uneven recent run of play. Lazio has played seven games after their disappointing Supercoppa. They have won three, lost three, and lost a few crucial ones that could determine the top four. These three losses, which came against Bologna, Atalanta BC, and Fiorentina, were detrimental. They cost their direct opponents three crucial points in the race for the top four. As a result, they are now eight points outside of the top four. Napoli’s victory over Sassuolo on Wednesday brought them level with Lazio. They are currently in eighth place going into the weekend.
Lazio would greatly benefit from a rematch of the score from the previous season’s match. They defeated Milan 4-0 at the Stadio Olimpico in January 2023. However, they are now 13 points behind their next opponents and it seems improbable. In addition, Biancocelesti manager Maurizio Sarri wants his team to get back on track before what could be his biggest match since taking over—a Tuesday trip to Bavaria. Milan has faltered a little after having a fantastic start to 2024 and had trouble last weekend against Atalanta. After falling short against La Dea twice previously this year, Stefano Pioli’s team was only able to draw 1-1 at San Siro when Teun Koopmeiners’ miraculous goal negated Rafael Leao’s.
Their winless streak was now at three games following their 4-2 loss to Monza in their previous league match. Despite losing to Rennes in France, their place in the Europa League was all but guaranteed due to their 3-0 advantage in the first leg. However, they need to end their current losing streak to stay in the top four.
Team News
Lazio’s two main injury concerns going into this matchup are that they should be without Patrick due to a sprained ankle and that Nicolo Rovella will probably be sidelined due to a groin ailment. Given the quality of their opponents, Sarri might be hesitant to make any personnel changes to allow for rest despite the massive match against Bayern on Tuesday, thus a mostly strong lineup is expected. It was a good idea for Mattia Zaccagni to make his injury comeback because he played 45 minutes last week. However, the Italy international might not play much again—he might even start against Bayern.
Milan only has two injury issues right now. Mattia Caldara has been out for an extended period. Tommaso Pobega is now sidelined due to a hamstring issue. Although Luka Jovic is still suspended following his straight red card against Monza two weeks ago, the Serbian is expected to start in their Europa League match against Slavia Prague midweek. For the draw against Atalanta, Pierre Kalulu and Davide Calabria were back in the starting lineup.
Lazio 1-1 AC Milan
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