Lazio vs Udinese 18/04/19

18 April 2019

The European promotion contenders and the Serie A relegation battles go head-to-head this midweek as Lazio welcome Udinese to the Stadio Olimpico.

Lazio’s chances of breaking into top-four have dropped considerably following a narrow 1-0 road loss to AC Milan last time out. Sitting six points adrift of fourth-placed Rossoneri with this game in hand, the Biancocelesti are obliged to pick up all three points here if they look to secure their place in Europe’s elite competition for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign. More comfortable at home, the Eagles have collected 28 of a total of 49 of their Serie A points at this venue (57.14%) having won three of their previous four SA home clashes (W3, D1). What’s more, Ciro Immobile and Co. feel far more confident in the final third when playing at the Stadio Olimpico as 29 of a total of 44 of their SA goals have come at home (65.91%). A potential worry for Simone Inzaghi, however, could be the fact his men have failed to preserve a clean slate in 13 of 16 of their previous home games across all competitions.

On the other hand, a narrow 1-0 road defeat to AS Roma last time out has halted visitors’ three-game SA unbeaten run (W2, D1), and it was also the first time after seven straight SA outings that they’ve struggled to hit the net. Residing 16th with a three-point lead over 18th-placed Empoli, the Friulians are still frantically looking over their shoulders, fearing for their top-flight status. The third-worst traveling side in the Italian top tier (W1, D5, L9), the Little Zebras have secured just eight of a total of their 32 SA points away from home (25%), with their only SA road victory dating back to September (2-1 over Chievo). Weak at the back and unprolific in the final third, Igor Tudor’s men miserably struggled in all 12 of their previous SA road trips (D4, L8), conceding over 1.5 goals per match six times while failing to find the net on another six occasions during their barren run.