Champions League contenders to duke out a draw
Lazio host Atalanta on Wednesday evening in Serie A in the second match of the Italian top tier season. Both teams took maximum points from their respective curtain-raisers, and there's little reason to believe their clash at the Stadio Olimpico won't be extremely keenly contested. Have a read of our preview here:
Immobile is still the get-out
Simone Inzaghi's men ran out comfortable winners away at Cagliari, and once again talismanic striker Ciro Immobile found the net, continuing precisely where he left off in 2019/2020 (with a phenomenal goal a game in 36 league appearances), making sure of the victory in Sardinia. Here, they will attempt to mix it up against their fellow top four rivals, utilising both the verve of Sergej Milinković-Savić in midfield, and long balls from the back for Immobile to hold up and bring the midfielders into play if they're pushed back too frequently.
Criss, cross, shot
Meanwhile, Atalanta held off an Andrea Belotti double to best Torino in their own backyard by a two-goal margin. Long-time manager Gian Piero Gasperini has continually made small tweaks and improvements in his four-year tenure to guide La Dea almost to the summit of the division, thanks in no small part to some canny recruitment and enterprising playing style, based on a genuine 3-4-3. They will look to exploit the full width of the pitch to bomb down the flanks in order to pepper their opponents' penalty area with a barrage of crosses, seeking the head of Colombian forward Duván Zapata especially.
The weaknesses will even themselves out
The defensive shortcomings of both teams are precisely the same - just as they excel at the other end with winning aerial battles, so too are they liable to concede from those sorts of opportunities themselves. Thus, it's difficult to foresee a situation where the game remains goalless, and both sides are more than capable of crafting numerous openings. For that reason, a draw with goals appears quite a safe bet to make, with odds of 4.00 at 888sport, and the two camps will have at least one eye on the group stage draw for the Champions League the following day.
