Lazio vs Parma 17/03/19

17 March 2019

Lazio welcome Parma to the Stadio Olimpico looking to post their sixth successive competitive victory over the Crusaders and boost their chances of booking their place in the Champions League.

Lazio’s hopes of reaching the Champions League promotion have dropped notably after a poor haul of one win in their last three Serie A outings (W1, D1, L1). With one game in hand, the Biancocelesti have to close an eight-point gap on fourth-placed Inter Milan, with 11 fixtures left to play. But, the Rome giants come into this meeting after securing back-to-back SA home triumphs, both accompanied by clean sheets. Two straight clean sheets should encourage Simone Inzaghi given the fact his players have failed to preserve a clean slate in seven consecutive SA home encounters before that. The Eagles, however, enjoy playing teams below them in Serie A, having lost only one of their 16 clashes against the worse ranked sides (W11, D4, L1).

Meanwhile, the visitors arrive at the Stadio Olimpico determined to snap a six-game losing streak at this venue that has seen them concede 2+ match goals on five occasions. Comfrotably occupying the 11th place, the Crusaders can’t get to the Serie A European spots but at the same time have no reason to worry about their top-flight status. A lack of consistency has seen the Gialloblu winning and losing in sequences, especially on the road. Roberto D’Aversa’s men have gone from back-to-back SA road wins to three straight games without a victory (D2, L1), with both of those draws ending with the same 3-3 scoreline. D’Aversa is still unable to fix his team’s defensive problems that have seen them concede on ten of their last 11 SA road trips, allowing over 1.5 goals per match seven times in the process.