Lazio vs Fiorentina

Mid-table Serie A underachievers Fiorentina take a trip to the Stadio Olimpico to meet high-flying Lazio in an exciting top-flight showdown.

Despite kicking things off in 2023 with an underwhelming 2-1 defeat at promoted Lecce and following that result with a 2-2 home draw against perennial bottom-half strugglers Empoli, Lazio will take the field in high spirits. A hard-earned 1-0 Coppa Italia win over Bologna a fortnight ago was a turning point, with Maurizio Sarri’s men winning back-to-back Serie A fixtures in the aftermath, including an overwhelming 4-0 victory over reigning champions AC Milan earlier this week. Even without talismanic striker Ciro Immobile, ‘I Biancocelesti’ have netted 2+ goals across their last two league outings to move within one point of second place. Another win here would see Lazio record four consecutive triumphs in all competitions for the first time since April 2021.

Visiting Fiorentina seem unable to throw a spanner in the works after suffering six defeats in their last seven meetings with Lazio in Serie A (W1) while drawing a blank in their three most recent top-flight H2Hs. Conceding first would likely rule ‘La Viola’ out of contention for three points here, considering they’ve lost four out of five Serie A away games in which they’ve fallen behind this term (D1). A first top-flight home defeat to Torino since 1976 in the lead-up to this trip further derailed the visitors’ confidence as they risk losing three consecutive league games ‘to nil’ for the first time since May 2019. Given that they last won a Serie A game at Lazio in 2016, the unwanted prospect of maintaining their disappointing home form looks plausible.