Lazio vs Fiorentina: Maurizio Sarri’s Biancocelesti rebound from 1-4 at Verona

Lazio were thrashed in Verona on Sunday, losing 1-4. On Wednesday, Maurizio Sarri’s side takes on Fiorentina. Will the Biancocelesti be able to recover from a painful defeat and produce a quality match?

Before their trip to Verona, Maurizio Sarri’s side hosted Marseille in the Europa League group stage. The encounter ended 0-0 and left the Biancocelesti with a lot of pressure as Jorge Sampaoli’s men created many problems for the Romans. As a result, Lazio were not strong enough to put on a good performance. Verona are a great attacking team, and then, apparently, Giovanni Simeone scored a brace. 1:4 is a disappointing defeat for Lazio, although, from the tournament point of view, it’s not much different from, for example, 0:1.

Vincenzo Italiano’s side has wins over Atalanta and Ivan Juric’s stalwart Torino to their credit this season. Still, it was the match in the previous round that brought the Fiorentina side perhaps their most striking win of the season. On home soil, Fiorentina thrashed Cagliari 3-0. For some reason, Walter Mazzarri decided to play open-play against the Sardinians and paid the price. Biraghi converted a penalty, Gonzalez scored from point-blank range, and Vlahovic converted a free-kick.

It is telling that Fiorentina’s best game of the season followed an uncontested worst - the previous round, they lost away to Venice.

The success of Fiorentina in the previous match should not be overestimated. Cagliari did make a profound mistake there in their choice of tactics. Nor should we exaggerate the significance of the defeat of Lazio in Verona. The Bianconeri have been good in recent times, and so, after Marseille, the Romans had little chance of success in this game from the start. The scoreline itself is largely to the credit of Giovanni Simeone, who played the best game of his career. In the meeting with Fiorentina, Lazio will surely do everything they can to recover. And it could well happen. Fiorentina are not a top team at the moment. What was it like in Venice on Matchday 8?

We predict that Maurizio Sarri will outplay Vincenzo Italiano on experience.

• W1 for 1.95;
• Both teams to score and W1 for 3.50;
• Individual Total 2 Over 1.5 for around 2.72.