Defending a series of eight consecutive victories to Lazio receives this Thursday, November 2, in the Olympic stadium in Rome, the Nice. The game is part of the schedule of the fourth round of the Europa League 2017/2018 edition, the first of the second round. The kickoff is scheduled for 18:05 GMT.
The teams are in group K, which has the leadership of the Italian team. Lazio has reached the nine possible points and if it reaches new success will be classified with two rounds of anticipation. Nice are in second place with six points. The first two advance to the next stage. Third place is split by Vitesse and Waregem, with one point.
Lazio’s recent performance
On Sunday, October 29, against Benevento, a first-division debutant in the Italian League, Lazio had little trouble making a 5-1 defeat and keeping their name among the 2017/2018 Serie A title contenders.
He reached 28 points (nine wins, one draw and one loss). It is the same score for Juventus, current sixth-ranked national champion in third place. The Romans only appear in fourth place due to the tiebreaking criteria. They make an excellent campaign, but this also happens with Napoli, leader of the tournament with 31 points added of the 33 possible, and Inter, second placed with 29 points.
The attack has been essential in this campaign. With 31 goals scored, Lazio has an average of almost three per game taking into account all 11 matches played. However, his top scorer is doubtful for Thursday’s match. The attacker Ciro Immobile (11 games in the Italian Championship 2017/2018, 14 goals) suffered a thigh injury in the match against Benevento. Still depends on a new evaluation to know if you can act.
Also in the medical department are defenders Dusan Basta (five games, no goal) and Wallace (three games, no goal), along with midfielder Felipe Anderson, who still played official matches in the current season.
The current form of Nice
Nice have also posted a string of similar results over the last five games. But highly negative. There were five losses. The most recent on Friday, October 27, 3-0, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain in the capital. This result was even expected. Surprising were three home runs against Strasbourg (2 to 1), Lazio (3 to 1) and Olympique de Marseille (4 to 2).
Third placed in the previous season of Ligue 1, the team is at the bottom of the standings table of the current edition of the French Championship. With ten points (three wins, one draw and seven losses) he occupies the sixteenth place. The score is the same as Strasbourg, which is the eighteenth and opens the relegation zone. The Riviera team takes advantage only in the tiebreaker criteria.
To face Lazio, coach Lucien Favre must have three limitations in his lean cast. They are in the care of the medical department midfielder Jean Michael Seri (six matches in the French Championship 2017/2018, a goal); and strikers Igniatius Ganago (three games, one goal) and Mickael Le Bihan (without performances).
History of the bouts between Lazio and Nice
The teams met only once before the duel for the last round of the first round of the Europa League version 2017/2018. In a friendly played in 2013, Lazio won 1-0.
PREDICTION: Lazio win @ 1.53
