AC Milan vs Lazio prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-05-05 13:00.
Back-to-back home matches seemed like a good opportunity for AC Milan in their quest for a top-four Serie A (SA) finish, but a surprising 1-1 draw against Cremonese somewhat dented those hopes. It was a point rescued in the final minutes by Junior Messias’ free kick, but given it served as their fourth stalemate in five league outings (W1), leaving them two points behind fourth-placed Inter, there is clear room for improvement.
In spite of that wealth of draws, Milan have won five of their last eight competitive home matches (D3) and will hope a swift return home to face Lazio can start their final push here considering they’ve won three of their four home SA outings against sides currently above them in the table (L1). Still, the threat of another stalemate looms large as Milan are one of three teams in the top-five European leagues to have recorded nine draws in 2023.
It was only last weekend that Lazio lost 3-1 here at the San Siro against Inter and Maurizio Sarri’s men travel north again after Wednesday's 2-0 home win over Sassuolo. That victory halted their recent two-game bump (L2) and helped them maintain the dream of a second-placed finish alive, though they now face fierce competition from Juventus for that spot.
Despite being the joint-second best travellers in SA this season (W9, D4, L3), two of Lazio’s three away league defeats arrived against fellow Champions League hopefuls Juventus and Inter, with those games responsible for 60% of Lazio’s ten away SA goals conceded this term. That record could be about to get worse too given the visitors have lost each of their last three away H2Hs against Milan, conceding nine goals in the process!
Players to watch: Milan’s Olivier Giroud has three goals in as many competitive meetings with Lazio (W2, L1), and he netted twice before the break in the last home H2H. Lazio’s Luis Alberto has already made seven career goal contributions against Milan (G3, A4), including a goal and an assist in the reverse fixture which Lazio won 4-0!
Hot stat: Four of the last six H2Hs have seen a goal scored inside the opening ten minutes.