Lazio vs Atalanta prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-02-10 19:45.
Unbeaten in five Serie A (SA) games, Lazio’s push towards the UEFA Champions League spots is gathering momentum with the second half of the season in its infancy. Fellow top-four chasers Atalanta are the next visitors to the Stadio Olimpico, which doesn’t bode well for Lazio if this game follows the history books, with Lazio winning just two of the last 11 SA H2Hs (D5, L4).
Encouragingly, one of those two victories came in the reverse fixture (2-0), and replicating that solid defensive showing may again hold the key to victory given Lazio’s last nine SA victories have come with an accompanying clean sheet. Lazio failed to secure a shut-out last time out against Verona though (1-1), with their 17 points dropped after scoring first this season prompting boss Maurizio Sarri to peculiarly cite that it would be a difficult problem to solve for even the “most established psychologist in Europe”.
Atalanta will be keen to deliver Lazio another crushing psychological blow here, travelling to Rome knowing they can leapfrog their hosts with a victory. Successive 1-0 defeats, including a Coppa Italia exit, certainly doesn’t build a strong case for Atalanta breaking into the top-four, but they can at least take some confidence from a run of five unbeaten away matches against Lazio (W2, D3).
In fact, La Dea have already won at the Stadio Olimpico once this season, beating Roma 1-0 back in September. But with just two wins from seven away league games since (D3, L2), Atalanta are a bit of a mixed bag on the road, and having lost 1-0 against Sassuolo in their last travelling clash, now risk losing back-to-back league road trips for the first time since March 2022, with the second defeat in that duo coming at this very ground versus Roma.
Players to watch: At risk of going five SA games in a row without scoring for the first time since April 2021, Lazio’s Ciro Immobile could strike early to break his duck, with four of his last five club goals arriving before half-time. Competing for the early plaudits, Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman has scored his last 13 club goals before the hour mark.
Hot stat: No SA side has led at the break in more league games than Lazio’s 14 this season (HT: D5, L2).