Lazio vs Genoa

Stadio Olimpico is the venue as Lazio and Genoa go head-to-head in their Coppa Italia last-16 tie.

Despite being a man up for almost 75 minutes, Lazio could only pull off an unconvincing 1-0 home win against promoted Cagliari at the weekend, alleviating some pressure on under-fire manager Maurizio Sarri. Back-to-back home triumphs ‘to nil,’ including a 2-0 Champions League triumph against Celtic, can inspire confidence within the home camp, as should the fact they’ve not conceded a goal in their last five competitive outings at the Stadio Olimpico (W4, D1). Indeed, ‘I Biancocelesti’ have gone from strength to strength at home in recent months, going unbeaten in all nine matches in Rome since the start of September (W6, D3). However, Lazio must approach this fixture with cautious optimism, as Genoa are the only side to have beaten them in the capital this season.

Meanwhile, since beating their upcoming rivals 1-0 in August, visiting Genoa have suffered five defeats on six subsequent travels (D1), including three in a row in the build-up to this encounter, all of which saw them concede precisely two goals. It doesn’t make for good reading, and neither does the fact they’ve only netted over 1.5 goals once on seven road trips in 2023/24, highlighting the significance of registering a rare shutout. However, before weathering the storm in the abovementioned showdown, the ‘Griffins’ had conceded 3+ goals on four previous Serie A visits to Lazio, suggesting that success in August might have been a one-off. Alberto Gilardino’s men are not well-positioned to prove otherwise after conceding in back-to-back matches against low-profile opponents Empoli (1-1) and Frosinone (1-2).