The 172nd edition of the "Derby della Capitale" will take place on Saturday at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, where rivals Lazio and Roma clash in a Serie A match. Roma won the reverse fixture 3-1 in September with goals from Lorenzo Pellegrini, Aleksandar Kolarov and Federico Fazio, while striker Ciro Immobile scored for Lazio. That was the third victory for Roma in the last six derbies in all competitions, while Lazio won just two. Overall, Lazio have won the derby 45 times, while Roma have tasted success over their rivals in 65 competitive matches.
Lazio are going through one of their worst periods of the season, they have not won any of their last four matches in all competitions and they have been eliminated from the Europa League by Sevilla. This week they recorded a goalless draw against AC Milan in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, ending a string of three consecutive defeats. They have lost three of their last five league matches and have dropped to sixth place in the Serie A table, six points behind fifth-placed Roma but with a game in hand. Valon Berisha, Jordan Lukaku and Wallace are still out injured, but head coach Simone Inzaghi will be able to field Sergej Milinkovic-Savic again.
Roma have been doing a lot better lately, they have lost just one of their last eleven matches in all competitions and have won their last four. That lone defeat was a very painful one though, 7-1 at Fiorentina in the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup. They have won six of their last eight Serie A matches and cut the gap towards fourth-placed AC Milan to just one point, while third-placed Inter are just three points ahead. Kostas Manolas could be available again but he will probably be rested for next week's Champions League match against FC Porto, while Patrik Schick is out injured.
Probable line-ups:
Lazio: Strakosha - Bastos, Acerbi, Radu - Romulo, Parolo, Leiva, Milinkovic-Savic, Lulic - Alberto - Immobile
Roma: Olsen - Florenzi, Fazio, Manolas, Kolarov - De Rossi, Nzonzi - Zaniolo, Pellegrini, El Shaarawy - Dzeko
My prediction: Roma to win 2-1, Lazio are not in their best form and Roma generally looked stronger this season.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Lazio win - 2.37
Draw - 3.50
Roma win - 3.00
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