Italian Serie A
2013-03-10 - Lazio vs Fiorentina
A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt
Football : Italy : Serie A
Venue: "Stadio Olimpico", Roma
Sunday 10th February – Kickoff time: 20:45 GMT+1
Lazio (5th W14 D4 L8)
Unlike Inter Milan, Lazio came home with a great result from their midweek Europa League clash in Stuttgart, securing a 2-0 win which puts them one foot in the quarter finals of the competition.
The Biancocelesti showed a lot of character after suffering a severe 0-3 defeat at the hands of AC Milan last Saturday and beat Stuttgart using a rather unconventional eleven, with Ederson, Pereirinha, Onazi and Kozak in the starting line-up.
Two of those (Ederon and Onazi) have scored Lazio’s goals in Germany and had remarkable performances, so it remains to be seen if coach Petkovic will be giving them some playing against Fiorentina as well.
What we know for sure is that Andrea Candreva won’t be on the pitch on Sunday, he misses out through suspension, while Miroslav Klose, Cristian Brocchi and Abdoulay Konko remain sidelined through injury.
Fiorentina (6th W13 D6 L8)
Fiorentina recorded their 10th home victory of the season against Chievo on Sunday and remain in the hunt for a podium finish, but they’ll have to start winning games on the road if they want to accomplish that objective.
Montella’s team is coming into this match on the back of four consecutive away defeats in Serie A. All those games were played against tough opponents, but facing Lazio at the Olimpico should be just as difficult.
La Viola have actually recorded seven away defeats this season, only AS Roma have lost as many games from the teams that are placed in the top half of the table.
Fiorentina will be travelling to Rome without Alberto Aquilani who will be serving a one-match ban, while Giuseppe Rossi, Michele Camporese and Ahmed Hegazi miss out through injury.
The Betting Verdict
We are being offered a big price for the home win despite Lazio’s imposing home form and Fiorentina’s poor performances on their travels, you can actually find Lazio to win at 2.5+ at various bookmakers.
I admit that Fiorentina has a lot of quality in their team, but during this season I have not bet against Lazio when playing at home and I don’t feel like now it’s the moment to do otherwise.
Lazio’s midweek game has to be taken in consideration, their guests had more time to prepare this match, but as I mentioned before coach Petkovic rested most of his regulars. Lazio started the match against Stuttgart without Dias, Biava, Mauri, Gonzales, Ledesma and Floccari.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Lazio 2-1 Fiorentina
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
