Next Monday, 9th of February 2015, Stefano Pioli’s super Lazio will entertain the always dangerous Genoa at the emblematic Stadio Olimpico in Rome for round 22 of the Italian Serie A, on a match of the utmost importance for the home side, especially after their unexpected and at the same time frustrating draw against Cesena last weekend.

After eliminating the Serie A powerhouses of AC Milan from Coppa Italia last week, Lazio suffered a somewhat unlikely defeat on their visit to Stadio Dino Manuzzi. The Italian capital city team succumbed at the hands of the relegation-threatened side of Cesena on a match throughout  which they had an apparent control of things. Lazio enjoyed from more  percentage of ball possession and had some more attempts on goal than their opponents, but they were only able to overcome Cesena’s goalie Nicola Leali on the dying moments of the match thanks to a goal by the German experienced striker Miroslav Klose.

Lazio have been having a fantastic campaign at Serie A so far and their manager Stefano Pioli is to blame for that. The Parma-born head coach didn’t enjoy the best of times last season while at the helm of Bologna and he even ended by being fired in January 2014. Pioli, however, is giving his critics something to think about since he has been developing an excellent work at the Aquile.

The upcoming fixture against Genoa will certainly not be easy, especially if we have in mind that the Grifone have won their three last visits to Stadio Olimpico.  For that particular clash, Stefano Pioli will not be able to rely on the services of the important Serbian centre forward Filip Djordjevic, who is currently sidelined with a long term injury.

As for Genoa, they are recently not going through the best of moments. The Rossoblu have failed to win any of their last seven Serie A matches, thus dropping several places on the league table. The home win against AC Milan last December was the end of a fantastic period for the Genovese team that, together with their neighbours and rivals of Sampdoria, offered fierce opposition to the usual title contenders in the first half of the season.

For the predictable complicated Stadio Olimpico’s clash next Monday, Genoa’s manager, Gian Piero Gasperini, will probably not be able to rely on the services of Tino Costa, who is currently injured, and at the same time, he already knows for sure that the Argentinean defender Burdisso will also miss the match due to suspension.

Despite their unexpected setback against Cesena last weekend, Lazio remain favourites for next Monday’s match.

Lazio

Stats: W-3 L-2 D-0

Recent Form - LWWLW

Genoa

Stats: W-0 L-2 D-3

Recent Form - DLDLD

Possible Line-ups

Lazio (4-3-3) - Marchetti - Basta - Mauricio - Cana - Radu - Ledesma - Biglia - Parolo - Mauri - Candreva - Klose

Genoa (3-4-2-1) - Perin - Roncaglia - De Maio - Izzo - Sturaro - Edenilson  - Kucka - Rincon - Falque - Niang - Perotti

Prediction

Lazio 2 Genoa 1