Next Sunday, 11th of January 2015, two Italian powerhouses, AS Roma and Lazio, will measure forces at the emblematic Stadio Olimpico in the Eternal City for round 18 of the Serie A, on what promises to be a very close and hectic derby della Capitale.

AS Roma’s premature knock-out from the UEFA Champions League last month might have helped the team to start focusing more on Serie A and the Lupi have not yet been defeated after that agonizing home setback against Manchester City.

Last Tuesday, AS Roma granted a precious win from their visit to Stadio Friuli, where they overcame Udinese thanks to a single goal by Astori early in the first-half. It wasn’t, by any means, an easy match for the Italian capital city’s team but in the end they deserved to win the clash. Before the festive period break, AS Roma conceded a home draw against the inconsistent AC Milan, who managed to restrain the Lupi’s free flowing attacking game and left Stadio Olimpico with a point in their bags.

The recent AS Roma’s matches have been far from easy but the team appears to be reacting very positively after their elimination from the UEFA Champions League by the hands of the current English champions. The Lupi’s next big clash will certainly not be any different and the difficulty level might even be increased if one takes into account the fierce rivalry and the competition that exist between these two historical Italian powerhouses. For the Derby della Capitale, Rudi Garcia will probably still not be able to count on the services of Castan, Sanabria, Keita, Gervinho and Balzaretti, all sidelined due to injury.

As for Lazio, after a somewhat bumpy start, the Biancocelesti are having a memorable season and they are currently on the third place of the table behind the usual suspects, Juventus and AS Roma. Last Monday, Lazio showed an excellent display of power by overcoming Sinisa Mihajlovic’s mighty Sampdoria by 3-0, thanks to goals from Parolo, Anderson and Djordjevic. The Stefano Pioli’s team is definitely one of the most interesting of Serie A this season and they are currently enjoying a very positive period of six consecutive matches without a single defeat.

It is definitely hard to name any favourites for the Derby della Capitale, but if you consider the team’s performances and consistency from last season, we might give AS Roma some slight favouritism for next Sunday’s big game.

Roma

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - WDWLD

Lazio

Stats: W-4 L-0 D-1

Recent Form - WDWWW

Possible Line-ups

Roma (4-3-3) - De Sanctis - Maicon - Manolas - Astori - Holebas - De Rossi - Pjanic - Strootman - Iturbe - Totti - Ljajic

Lazio (4-3-3) - Marchetti - Basta - De Vrij - Cana - Radu - Lulic - Biglia - Parolo - Mauri - Djordjevic - Anderson

Prediction

Roma 1 Lazio 1