LAZIO can still somehow clinch a Champions League spot on Sunday on the final day of the Serie A season at home to relegated Sassuolo, but they need something of a football miracle.
Despite a fairly average season, Igor Tudor's men have an outside chance of leapfrogging Roma and, with six Italian teams in the Champions League next season, that would get them into Europe's premier tournament.
But they must win on Sunday, pray Roma lose at Napoli and also overturn a ten-goal swing.
Lazio are currently seventh and they won't want the season to end. They are finishing like the proverbial steam train. They have lost just once in their last nine Serie A matches and have won four and drawn two of them, which included an impressive 1-1 draw with runaway champions Inter Milan at the San Siro last week.
A poor spell in February where they lost four out of five league games and were dumped out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich basically ruined their season.
For Sassuolo, they have but pride left to play for after a disastrous campaign that will see them finish second bottom. Even signing Scotland Under 21s slipper Josh Doig in January couldn't save them and when you only win three league games in 2024, they can have little in the way of complaints.
How the bookies view it: Lazio huge favourites
Lazio are strong jollies here at 19/50 with bet365 and Sassuolo can be backed at 13/2. The draw is 4/1.
Recent head to heads: Lazio have edge
Lazio were too good for Sassuolo when they met earlier this season in October and won 2-0.
In fact, that's been the scoreline for the past three games between the sides all in favour of the Rome giants.
Players to watch: Immobile the man
Lazio legend Ciro Immobile may be 34 now but he is still the top scorer for the club this season and was in among the goals the other week against Monza after something of a drought before that. He is evens to score on Sunday with bet365.
French striker Armand Lauriente has scored five goals for Sassuolo, which is not that bad a return actually given the paucity of their season. He is 6/1 with bet365 to net at the Olymoic Stadium.
Probable line-ups:
Lazio have a clean bill of health to choose from. The visitors look set to be without Domenico Berardi and Samu Castillejo.
Lazio: Provedel, Patric, Casale, Hysaj, Marusic, Rovella, Vecino, Pellegrini, Kamada, Zaccagni; Castellanos.
Sassuolo: Consigli, Erlic, Ferrari, Kumbulla, Toljan, Henrique, Boloca, Thorstvedt, Doig, Lauriente, Pinamonti.
Anything else catch the eye?
With 74 goals conceded so far in 37 games, it's not hard to pinpoint Sassuolo's weak point this season and Lazio should be able to exploit it here.
They hammered Salernitana 4-1 at home last month and the bottom club are the only club to have conceded more goals than Sunday's visitors.
Therefore, you would the visitors to win with a bit to spare, especially as they need a big win. They are too short to back as a single, but they should be able to make a breakthrough before the break and the 20/21 for a home half time and full time win seems solid with bet365.
Last games often produce plenty of goals too and the 7/4 on offer for a Lazio win and over 3.5 goals with bet365 seems decent.
This Serie A match between Lazio and Sassuolo will be played on May 26, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Lazio vs Sassuolo prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
