Lazio vs Spezia

Lazio will be looking to maintain their 100% Serie A record against Spezia when the two sides meet at the Stadio Olimpico this weekend.

Despite conceding first four minutes into the new season, Lazio came from behind to seal a comfortable 3-1 away triumph over promoted Empoli to provide new boss Maurizio Sarri with a flying start. Things could get ugly here, considering ‘I Biancocelesti’ have gone winless in five consecutive Serie A home season openers (D2, L3) since beating Bologna 2-1 in August 2015. With that said, the hosts are the only Serie A side alongside reigning champions Inter Milan to avoid defeat in every top-flight fixture at home in 2021 (W11, D1). Additionally, Lazio prevailed in both last season’s H2Hs against Spezia by the identical 2-1 scoreline after scoring first on each occasion. They are likely to grab another victory should they open the scoring, considering they won all 12 home Serie A outings when breaking the deadlock last season.

Meanwhile, Spezia managed to upset the odds and ensure another top-flight journey in 2020/21, accruing more points (39) than any other Serie A debutants in their inaugural top-flight campaign last season out. But the ‘Aquilotti’ squandered a two-goal lead at Cagliari on Matchday 1, managing just a 2-2 draw to extend their unbeaten Serie A run to four straight matches (W1, D3), 2020/21 included. Notably, Thiago Motta’s men netted 2+ goals in each of those four abovementioned fixtures – they’ve never scored at least twice in five consecutive top-flight games. However, Spezia’s leaky backline has failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 17 Serie A outings, conceding an average of 2.1 goals per match during that sequence.