Fiorentina vs Lazio Prediction and Preview – 09/01/16
Serie A preview – Fiorentina vs Lazio prediction.
Paulo Sousa has no injury worries as Fiorentina prepare to face Lazio at Stadio Artemio Franchi on Saturday. Defender Manuel Pasqual and Polish midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski returned from injury to get some game time in the midweek victory at Palermo and are expected to be on the bench again this weekend. Attacking midfielder Josep Ilicic continued his potent run in front of goal by scoring a brace in the 3-1 win in Palermo on Wednesday, taking his tally to 9 goals in 14 league appearances this season.
Lazio coach Stefano Pioli has not been so fortunate with absentees. Lazio’s long list of injured include Santiago Gentilli, Federico Marchetti, Ricardo Kishna, Dusan Basta and Senad Lulic. Lucas Biglia and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic should return to the midfield after sitting out the 0-0 draw against Carpi on Wednesday through suspension. The veteran German international Miroslav Klose has recovered from thigh pains and will push Filip Dordevic and Alessandro Matri for a place in the forward line.
Possible Line-ups
Fiorentina: 3-4-2-1 formation: Tatarusanu; Roncagla, Rodriguez, Astori; Bernardeschi, Badelj, Vecino, Alonso; Valero, Ilicic; Kalinic
Lazio: 4-3-3 formation: Berisha; Konko, Mauricio, Hoedt, Radu; Milinkovic-Savic, Biglia, Parolo; Candreva , Dordevic, Anderson
Statistics
- Fiorentina have won 5 drawn 3 and lost 2 of their last 10 matches
- Lazio have won 3 drawn 4 and lost 3 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Fiorentina have scored an average of 1.7 goals and conceded an average of 1 goal per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Lazio have scored an average of 1 goal and conceded an average of 1.1 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Fiorentina’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 3 of Lazio’s previous 10 matches
Prediction
Second place Fiorentina have only dropped four points at home this season and look to maintain their title challenge with a seventh home win in nine games. Sousa’s side is the highest scoring team in the league with 36 goals and have scored two or more in seven of nine league games at Artemio Franchi.
Lazio’s inconsistency can be put down to an unsettled side for much of the season but Pioli’s men have put together an unbeaten run of five games across three competitions. It includes a shock 2-1 win at Inter before the Christmas break which ended a run of four successive away defeats in Serie A. The 0-0 draw against relegation threatened Carpi was a disappointment when they failed to have a single shot on target against the second worst defence in the league.
Fiorentina have had great success using the through ball, something Lazio have been poor to defend against. The prediction is a home win.
Tips
Fiorentina to win at 10/11 with bet365
Under 2.5 goals at 20/23 with BetVictor
Fiorentina to win 2-0 at 19/2 with 888sport
What are your predictions?
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