Salernitana vs Lazio prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-11-24 14:00.
One of just two teams across Europe’s traditional top-five leagues yet to win a game this season, Salernitana find themselves marooned in the Serie A (SA) drop zone after 12 rounds (D5, L7). Couple that wretched start with a defeat on the final day of the last SA season, and Salernitana are in the midst of their longest winless run in top-flight history, leaving them five points adrift of safety.
Sources of optimism are few and far between for Salernitana at the moment, but while their SA home record against Lazio is in their favour (W3, L2), the two H2Hs they’ve hosted since their most recent promotion have both ended in defeat ‘to nil’. Indeed, all three of their home league defeats this term have also come without reply, but they have shown their battling ability at the Stadio Arechi as their three home points earned this season (D3) all saw them turn around a deficit.
You could argue Salernitana are catching Lazio at a good time, with Maurizio Sarri’s men winless in two SA outings (D1, L1). With a huge UEFA Champions League (UCL) clash against Celtic on the horizon in the days following this game, Sarri is left with a dilemma of whether he prioritises kick-starting their faltering SA campaign (W5, D2, L5) or throwing everything he’s got into sealing three points that would leave them well placed to advance to the UCL knockouts.
History would suggest it’s the latter, as Lazio have peculiarly lost three of their four SA matches this season preceding a UCL game (W1). Some lacklustre away league form this season (W2, L4) would hint at a continuation of that dismal pre-European form, and considering only three of Lazio’s last 12 Saturday-held SA away games have seen both teams score, the first goal could be key in deciding whether it does or not.
Players to watch: Anything good about Salernitana usually comes through Boulaye Dia, the man responsible for half of their eight SA goals this term, three of which arrived after the break. Lazio had a Ciro Immobile double to thank for three points in this corresponding fixture last season, but this campaign he’s collected more SA yellow cards (four) than goals scored (three).
Hot stat: No side has conceded more goals in the opening 15 minutes in SA this season than Salernitana’s five.