Lazio vs Atalanta

Stadio Olimpico forms the backdrop for an exciting Serie A top-six six-pointer between Lazio and Atalanta.

After hammering Sassuolo and AC Milan 2-0 and 4-0, respectively, in mid-January, Lazio’s pursuit of a first top-four finish in Serie A since 2019/20 has suffered a couple of setbacks. A brace of 1-1 draws against Fiorentina and Hellas Verona in the last two league rounds has seen ‘I Biancocelesti’ fall one point behind fourth-placed Roma. Though Maurizio Sarri’s men are unbeaten in five straight top-flight matches ahead of the kick-off (W2, D3), you’d have to go back to 2017 for Lazio’s last home league win against Atalanta. Since then, they’ve gone winless in five straight Serie A H2Hs at the Stadio Olimpico (D3, L2), conceding 3+ goals three times in that stretch. That said, they’ve kept a clean sheet in their last two league meetings with Atalanta (W1, D1), including a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture in Bergamo.

In the meantime, visiting Atalanta failed to recover from a heartbreaking 1-0 Coppa Italia defeat to Inter Milan a fortnight ago, suffering an identical loss at Sassuolo last weekend. After going unbeaten in their first five post-World Cup matches in Serie A (W3, D2), Atalanta may now go back-to-back league matches without scoring for the first time this term. However, Gian Piero Gasperini’s men will likely avoid that scenario, given that they’ve scored 2+ goals on three of their last four Serie A travels. Despite their free-scoring form on hostile turf, ‘La Dea’ have been victorious in just one of their five previous away league outings (D2, L2).