Roma – Lazio 08.04.2013

Roma and Lazio are neighbors on the table, but both teams are outside European places.

At the moment Lazio is better, have three points more then Roma and enters this match with more confidence.

Roma fans had big expectations this season. Their hopes were even connect with the title. Indeed, Roma have a quality roster and I rate them just behind Juventus. Totti, Pablo Osvaldo, Lamela, De Rossi, they are all extra players. The coach Zdenek Zeman paid the prize for the bad results and was fired, but there are no dramatic changes when the results are in question. Roma continue with the inconsistency and have one win, one draw and one defeat in the last three matches.

The coach Aurelio Andreazzoli has some issues before Derby della Capitale, particularly in the attack. The captain Francesco Totti will start as a lone striker as Mattia Destro is still sidelined due to injury, while Pablo Osvaldo is suspended. In addition, Ivan Piris is also banned, while Nicolas Lopez is doubtful.

Lazio is not in best form in the finish of the championship. The coach Vladimir Petkovic faced many problems this season. Most of all, the pressure of trying to balance three competitions – Serie A, UEFA Europe League and Coppa Italia. And the injury of the key player Miroslav Klose make the things worse.

The defeat in Istanbul was a big disappointment for the players, as well as for the fans. It will be very hard to progress. However, Lazio will fight until the last minute. Only this second leg against Fenerbahce come just three days later, on Thursday. And Lazio have to host the actual champion Juventus next weekend. The schedule is very hard for Lazio, no doubt about that. The problems for the coach Petkovic are even bigger as lot of players are sidelined. Sergio Floccari, Cristian Brocchi, Abdoulay Konko, Marius Stankevičius and Andre Dias are all out, while Miroslav Klose is still not fit enough to start.

I think Roma is closer to the victory. It is true both coaches have problems, but I rate Petkovic problems as much bigger. Lazio is in series of three consecutive victories over Roma, but I think it’s a perfect time for Roma to stop the sequence.