It is the first Rome derby of the season as Lazio and Roma Square off in an Italian Serie A fixture at Stadio Olimpico. The derby is always fiesty and with both teams looking impressive in attack, goals can be expected in this one.
Lazio laboured to an injury time 1-1 draw at Torino in their previous Serie A fixture. They struggled to create chances during the encounter and needed a late penalty from Ciro Immobile to salvage a point.
Following a bright start to the season, things appear to have gone bad for Lazio in recent weeks. Maurizio Sarri’s men are winless in their last four matches across all competitions, suffering two defeats in that run.
Lazio have impressed going forward this season and are among the leading scorers in Serie A with striker Ciro Immobile already on six goals. However, as is often the problem, they have struggled to maintain their discipline at the back and are without a clean sheet in all five of their matches.
Roma head into Sunday’s derby off the back of a 1-0 victory over Udinese in their midweek Serie A fixture. It was a hard-fought win for Jose Mourinho’s men as Tammy Abraham’s first half effort proved to be the difference.
It was a good way to bounce back from their surprise 3-2 defeat to Verona in their previous fixture. The victory against Udinese means Roma have now won seven of their eight matches across all competitions this season.
Roma are also among the leading scorers in Serie A this season and although they will be missing captain Lorenzo Pellegrini through suspension, they still have enough quality to trouble Lazio. Their defending though has not been convincing, Lazio have conceded five goals in their last four Serie A matches.
How the bookies view it
The bookies are split on this one with Lazio priced at 31/18 to win while also offering 17/10 for a Roma victory. A draw is set at odds of 5/2 with bet365.
Head to head
Roma have a 24-18 edge with 18 draws from 60 previous matches against Lazio. They also claimed a 2-0 victory in the last derby with Henrikh Mkhitaryan opening the scoring.
Players to watch
Ciro Immobile has found the net six times in seven matches and will be the one to watch for Lazio. Skybet has the striker at 6/5 to get on the score sheet on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham has made a solid start to life at Roma and could be worth keeping an eye on. The striker has two goals this season, including the winner last time out and is priced at 8/5 by Sporting Index to score anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
There have been over 3.5 goals in three of Lazio's five matches this season and the derby could be set to follow a similar pattern at 13/8 with William Hill. Over 2.5 goals can also be considered at 14/19 with SBK.
Lazio and Roma have more goals after the break this season and both teams could be backed to score in the second half at 15/8 with Paddy Power.
This Serie A match between Lazio and Roma will be played on Sep 26, 2021 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Lazio vs Roma prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
