On Wednesday evening nine remaining matches of irregular 33rd round of Italian Serie A are going to be played and we have singled out the one between 7th-placed Fiorentina and 3rd-positioend Lazio, which currently has 10 points more. Both teams are undefeated in the league for long time and we need to add that their head-to-head played in Rome last autumn ended as draw 1-1, while near the end of previous year Lazio won Fiorentina 1-0 at home in the Coppa Italia.
We should bear in mind that their last match played in Florence had ended as victory of the home team 3-2, which gives hope to Fiorentina fans that their team can win all three points against Lazio. On top of it, Fiorentina owes to its fans after it merely drew 0-0 at home last weekend with struggling SPAL, which at the same time put an end to Fiorentinas excellent six-game winning streak in the league.
The draw again put Fiorentina in situation to fight for positions that lead to Europe, as at the moment it has just two points fewer than 6th-placed Milan, while on the other hand 8th-placed Atalanta and 9th-positioned Sampdoria have two and three points fewer, respectively, than Fiorentina. Let’s add that after a shorter break recovered defender Laurini should return to the starting line-up, while injured midfielder Badelj is the only one who will skip match with Lazio.
Probable lineups AC Fiorentina: Sportiello – Laurini, Pezzella, Vitor Hugo, Biraghi – Benassi, Dabo, Veretout – Chiesa, Saponara – Simeones
We have said in the introduction that match with Fiorentina comes for the guests from Rome after a longer unbeaten streak in the league, although Lazio won just two and drew even three matches in those last five matches, including goalless draw played last Sunday with city rival Roma. After the match Lazio still occupies the third place in the Serie A table but the 4th-placed Roma has the same number of points, while 5th-positioned Inter lags for just one point behind two teams from Rome.
It in fact means that these three teams will lead a big battle by the end of season for two remaining places that lead to the Champions League given that leading duo Juventus and Napoli are out of their reach. Let’s add that before drew with Rome Lazio was somewhat unexpectedly eliminated from the Europa League by Salzburg by aggregated 6-5. Regarding problems with absences for match with Fiorentina, stopper Radu is suspended due to accrued yellow cards, while defender Petric is still injured.
Probable lineups Lazio Rome: Strakosha – Bastos, de Vrij, Luiz Felipe – Marusic, Parolo, Leiva, Lulic – Luis Alberto, Milinkovic-Savic – Immobile
Given that just two points separate Fiorentina from positions that lead to the Europa League, and that Lazio is locked in dead head with Roma and Inter for reaching the Champions League, it is logical that we should see now gaols on both sides of the pitch.
Pick: both teams to score
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