Preview
Maurizio Sarri and Jose Mourinho will lead Lazio and Roma to the battlefield on Sunday evening with the first Derby della Capitale of the season set to grace screens on Sunday. The pair will rekindle their rivalry inside Stadio Olimpico in what will be their respective sixth outings of the Serie A season. The home side of this clash will particularly aim at securing a favorable result as their slow start to the premiership has seen them languishing in the mid-table.
The Aquile started the league campaign on a good note by registering back to back victories against Empoli and Spezia but have since fallen into a winless cycle. They have managed just two points from a possible 12 across in all competitions, both points coming in the successive draws against Cagliari and Torino. Prior to that, Sarri's men picked up a 2-0 defeat in their trip to take on AC Milan at San Siro and were subsequently beaten via a 1-0 scoreline against Galatasaray in the Europa League opening group encounter.
While there is not much internally to draw inspiration from, Lazio should be motivated by the fact that they are unbeaten in their last 15 home games in the Italian top flight. Also, last season, they managed a 3-0 win over Roma in the first round before suffering a 2-0 defeat when the pair met in the reverse fixture. The head to head comparison suggest that they have a long way to go in being deemed as the superior club in Rome as they have managed just 39 wins from 154 meetings as against Roma's 55. Needless to say, they can momentarily own the city by extending their win haul to five in their last five when playing as hosts in the derby.
For the Giallorossi, headcoach Jose Mourinho will demand more of the same following their impressive start to life in Serie A this season. The former Inter Milan manager's return to the Italian top flight league has been characterized by good attacking football that has seen his charges securing four wins from five outings. With just a defeat to their name since he beginning of the campaign, they occpy fourth position on the league log and could move into second position depending on the outcome of Napoli's meeting with Cagliari.
Roma approach Sunday's encounter on the back of a 1-0 win over Udinese, a game which concluded with them having 10 men on the field as a result of skipper Lorenzo Pellegrini's sending off. Against Lazio, they will be eager to make it two wins in two after picking up the shock 3-2 defeat to Hellas Verona prior to the clash with Udinese. Having had the best possible start in Serie A in over a decade, coupled with the fact that they have scored in each of their last nine matches in the competitions, the visitors in the local derby should do enough to put their crosstown neighbors through their paces as they target a Scudetto challenge this season.
Form guide
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Lazio: WWLLD
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Roma: WWWLW
Predicted starting XI
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Lazio: Reina; Lazzari, Felipe, Acerbi, Hysaj; Alberto, Milinkovic-Savic, Leiva; Pedro, Immobile, Anderson
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Roma: Patricio; Karsdorp, Mancini, Smalling, Calafiori; Veretout, Cristante; El Shaarawy, Mkhitaryan, Zaniolo; Abraham.
Broadcast information
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
