After suffering cup disappointment last week, Lazio seek a return to winning ways in Serie A, as they visit Hellas Verona on Monday.
Draws for either side last time out leave them placed at opposite ends of the league table, but the relegation-threatened hosts will hope to prolong their recent upturn at Stadio Bentegodi.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having crushed the champions and gone unbeaten in five games to start the new year, Lazio had the distant glint of silverware in mind on Thursday night, when they travelled to Turin for a Coppa Italia quarter-final tie against Juventus.
Beating Milan 4-0 and then drawing with Fiorentina has the Biancocelesti on course for a top-four league finish, but despite welcoming back captain Ciro Immobile from the start they were unable to breach Juve's dogged defence and ultimately went out after a 1-0 defeat.
A fourth straight quarter-final exit will leave an air of frustration at the capital club, who are soon to tackle CFR Cluj in the Europa Conference League knockout phase - though their recent league form means they have plenty left to play for.
In last week's home fixture versus the Viola, Maurizio Sarri's men may have seen Nicolo Casale's first-ever Serie A strike cancelled out by their Tuscan visitors, but they remain one of five clubs vying for three Champions League spots behind relentless leaders Napoli.
With their overall defensive recorded bettered only by Luciano Spalletti's champions-elect, Lazio have conceded just six league goals on the road ahead of their trip to Verona, which precedes a high-stakes clash with Atalanta next weekend.
After their 2-0 win in September's reverse fixture, when Immobile and Luis Alberto were on target in Rome, a first league double over the Scaligeri since 2018 is now on the cards - but the hosts' recent uptick means that task may be far from straightforward.
© Reuters
Running out 4-1 winners in this fixture last season proved one of the high points of Verona's 2021-22 campaign, but since the start of this term they have been down among the strugglers near Serie A's trapdoor.
However, following a change of manager, Hellas arrived in Udine last week having won two of their previous three games to revive hopes of survival, and they edged closer to 17th-placed Spezia by earning a hard-fought point.
Since experienced coach Marco Zaffaroni stepped into the Bentegodi dugout, his side have won their last two home matches without conceding a goal - albeit against promoted pair Cremonese and Lecce.
A vastly improved defensive effort has played its part in such a turnaround, and no team has conceded fewer goals so far in 2023. Having seen Lorenzo Montipo beaten just three times following the winter break, Verona earned eight points during January.
With both capital clubs to come in their next three fixtures, though, there remain many hard yards to cover if they are to haul themselves out of the bottom three, even if Zaffaroni's impact has at least got the Scaligeri supporters believing.
Team News
© Reuters
Though Spanish centre-back Patric picked up a thigh problem in Turin and is now a doubt to make Monday's game, Lazio have an almost full squad available for selection.
Former Verona winger Mattia Zaccagni (eight goals and four assists) and recently returned skipper Ciro Immobile (seven goals; three assists) should feature in the visitors' front three, and they are among a trio of Italians that have directly contributed to 10 or more Serie A strikes this season - the other is Inter's Nicolo Barella.
Over a longer period, Immobile has scored 10 times in 11 league meetings with Verona, though he has not netted in his last three league matches either side of an injury layoff.
January arrival Luca Pellegrini will also be involved, and Maurizio Sarri may consider starting the Italy international at left-back. Meanwhile, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic returns to midfield, in front of Patric's likely replacement Nicolo Casale - another Hellas old boy.
Lazio may have had a quiet transfer market last month, but Verona were busier, with Koray Gunter, Ivan Ilic and Roberto Piccoli among those departing the Bentegodi, while several forwards hastily acquired in the aftermath of Thomas Henry's ACL injury.
Borussia Dortmund youngster Jayden Braaf joins Ondrej Duda and Adolfo Gaich in bolstering Marco Zaffaroni's attacking options; they are all most likely to start on the bench, though, as Milan Djuric continues to lead the line up front.
In support of the Bosnian target man, versatile midfielder Darko Lazovic leads Verona in several individual categories: goals (three), chances created (17), shots on target (eight) and crosses from open play (48).
Zaffaroni may also have Pawel Dawidowicz, Marco Faraoni and Miguel Veloso available again, though each faces a race against time to be passed fit.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Ceccherini, Hien, Magnani; Depaoli, Sulemana, Tameze, Doig; Lazovic, Lasagna; Djuric
Lazio possible starting lineup:
Provedel; Lazzari, Romagnoli, Casale, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Alberto; Anderson, Immobile, Zaccagni
We say: Hellas Verona 1-2 Lazio
In addition to holding one of Italy's best away records, Lazio have kept 11 clean sheets already, so are particularly hard to breach. Even if a revitalised Verona can score at some stage, the visitors have the capacity to strike more than once themselves and should post their third league win from four games.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
