Lazio will look to build on their win in Europe as they host Atalanta BC on Sunday. After losing to Milan last weekend, Maurizio Sarri’s team is now hosting La Dea at Stadio Olimpico. They are still mired in the bottom part of the Serie A standings.
Preview (Lazio vs. Atalanta BC)
Despite a sluggish start to their Serie A season, Lazio has managed to stay unbeaten in the Champions League. Ivan Provedel scored an amazing equalizer against Atletico Madrid. Pedro came up with the winning goal in Glasgow on Wednesday. Prior to playing Group E rivals Celtic, Lazio had only won one of their previous 16 away games. Maurizio Sarri’s team now returns to a challenging domestic position. The burden is on Lazio to perform. A loss against Atalanta would mark the capital club’s worst start after eight games in the 21st century. It would place them even closer to the relegation zone than the bottom six.
The foundation of their second-place finish from the previous season was a string of clean sheets. Sarri watched in displeasure as his team gave up two more goals in a 2-0 loss to Milan last weekend. It was their fourth loss of the year. Such remarks will not win him many friends. Atalanta will enter Stadio Olimpico having won just once in their last five league encounters. The clubs’ most recent meeting in February marked their lone victory during that stretch. The Bergamo side may now fancy their chances of winning back-to-back games away.
Atalanta hasn’t lost to Lazio at the Olimpico in six years. Recent results for both teams indicate that the run might continue this week. While the hosts have struggled, La Dea was sixth in the Serie A standings after seven rounds. With wins over Cagliari and Hellas Verona coming before last week’s dreary 0-0 stalemate at home to Juventus, Atalanta has picked up seven points from their past three league games and has now recorded five clean sheets from their first seven top-flight games for the first time.
Team News
Ciro Immobile, the home team’s captain, could miss Sunday’s match due to a flexor injury received in Lazio’s last-second victory over Celtic, so Taty Castellanos is prepared to fill in. The hosts will likely use a 4-3-3 system. Maurizio Sarri may make changes in the midfield due to the hard workload at home and in Europe. Danilo Cataldi, Matteo Guendouzi, and Juventus loanee Nicolo Rovella are all in the running for a position in the starting lineup. Due to Felipe Anderson’s possible rest, Pedro’s late goal at Celtic Park may also result in the veteran winger’s promotion to the starting lineup. Atalanta welcomed Gianluca Scamacca back to first-team action on Thursday when he made an appearance as a substitute against Sporting, even though Lazio’s Italy striker is expected to miss some time.
Rafael Toloi might start in the visitors’ back three at Stadio Olimpico because Berat Djimsiti is dealing with a muscular issue, and Juan Musso will likely start behind him despite competition from Marco Carnesecchi. Musso had the highest save % after seven Serie A games this season of any goalie in the top five leagues in Europe. Lazio, who are back on track in Serie A, may cut the distance between themselves and fellow top-four candidates Atalanta by winning a close encounter on Sunday. This week in Europe, both teams did well to secure victories on the road.
Lazio 1 – 0 Atalanta BC
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