Italian Serie A preview: SS Lazio – UC Lecce
SS Lazio musings: Aquile soaring high
Lazio barely survived the rigours of Serie A last season, flirting with relegation for much of the last season. Eduardo Reja was brought in and the tactician managed to stabilise the sinking ship. Prior to this season, expectations were not very high, but
Claudio Lotito did his part by bringing in talented players such as Hernanes and Andre Dias.
Going into second half of the season, Aquile are placed second in the league and a title push is not out of question. Their feats this season would have pleasantly surprised even the most optimistic of Aquile faithful; Reja’s men are only five points behind
league leaders AC Milan. Should they manage to keep up the pressure on Rossoneri, they just might land a first Scudetto in more than a decade.
Today, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lazio-c39775 will welcome relegation favourites, UC Lecce, to Stadio Olimpico. Anything less than three points against the league’s whipping boys would be a failure for Reja.
UC Lecce musings: Relegation beckons
Lecce won promotion to Serie A by winning Serie B by a single point last season. However, Pierandrea Semeraro failed to strengthen the squad, and many predicted instant return to lower division for Salentini. Needless to say, Luigi Di Canio’s side have done
little to dispel such notions.
Going into round 19 of Serie A, Lupi are 19th in the league with just 15 points. Worse still, Salentini have managed a woeful single point on their travels thus far. With the squad that Canio has at his disposal, there is little room for optimism.
Where a victory looks impossibility, even a draw would be a huge result. Lupi will play for their pride more than anything, as there are little chances of the Yellow-Reds coming away with a result.
Team News
SS Lazio
Reja will have to do without the services of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Javier-Garrido-c18051 and the Brazilian Matuzalem as the trio is out of injured. Additionally, star defender Andre Dias will sit out the game due to suspension.
Aquile tactician will deploy a 4-2-3-1 that will see http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Stefano-Mauri-c34055.
UC Lecce
New Year hasn’t started well for Lecce manager. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alberto-c4309 Giuliatto, David Di Michele, Stefano Ferrario and Rubin Olivera will all miss the trip to Rome due to their respective injuries. Worse still, club captain Guillermo Giacomazzi will be suspended for
the game. Canio will use a 4-3-2-1 formation that will look to crowd out the midfield – ideal tactics when going for a draw.
Key Players
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hernanes-c16150
The Brazilian is likely to be the key in all of Aquile’s forays forward. The Brazilian is supremely talented. Blessed with Brazilian technique and telescopic vision, Hernanes scores and assists in equal measures – safe bet to make a telling contribution
tonight.
Antonio Rosati
Lecce custodian is up for a very long outing today. The experienced goalkeeper will have to play beyond his limits if Lupi are to eke out any sort of result.
Prediction
The fate of this game is grinded out in stone. Lazio will win the game alright, but the question is how many will they score past a hapless Gilarossi defence. We say Hernanes will inspire a 3 – 0 routing at Stadio Olimpico, Rome.
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