Napoli vs Lazio

The first of the two mouth-watering fixtures lined up for the week’s Coppa Italia quarterfinals and the week’s Serie A matchup is Lazio of Napoli at the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday.

Both southern giants will be chasing a place in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, the weekend’s league clash being played in Naples.

After their 12-match winning streak was last broken by a draw against Ludogorets in Thursday’s Europa League, Lazio lost their first match since October on Monday.

With coaches from Parma already waiting at Stadio Tardini, Marco Baroni’s players was denied two goals and a penalty, and Taty Castellanos was their only scorer as they were beaten 3-1 to end their five-match unbeaten run in the Italy Serie A.

However, they are among those aspiring for top spot, just four points behind leaders Napoli, and can still considered placing a serious title challenge in an otherwise open Scudetto race.

Even though the flawless record of the Serie A club in the Europa league has been tainted, the Biancocelesti are also leading their group in UEFA ‘s second tier group and all set to progress to the last 16 stage of the competition.

Consequently, Baroni can take Lazio into Thursdays’ match with some assurance; especially because the Biancocelesti, seven-time Coppa Italia champions have triumphed in two of their last three encounters with Napoli and shared the spoils once.
Of their hosts, this phase of the Coppa, while Napoli had to get through two previous rounds to reach the last 16 because they didn’t qualify for Europe.

Having come from behind to beat Modena on penalties in the first match played by Antonio Conte as a head coach of the club, the Partenopei produced their show by thrashing Palermo 5-0 in October in the round-two match, in which Scott McTominay scored the last goal at Stadio Maradona.

When Napoli defeated Torino 1-0 over the weekend, their Scottish hero scored once more, giving them back-to-back victories since a slight lull before the international break.

After 14 games, the Campanian team is still leading despite only gaining one point from matches against Atalanta BC and defending champions Inter Milan, both of whom are in the midst of a crowded Serie A summit.

Conte's team is now looking to stop free-scoring Lazio after their most recent victory. They have already preserved nine clean sheets in the league this season, plus two in the Coppa.

Gaetano Castovilli is still recuperating from knee surgery, Lazio midfielder Matias Vecino will be sidelined for at least another week, and left-backs Nuno Tavares and Luca Pellegrini are sidelined.

An ankle injury to Boulaye Dia, who has been a productive counterpoint for leading scorer Taty Castellanos since joining in the summer, may further limit Marco Baroni's choices.

Pedro, Samuel Gigot, and cup goalkeeper Christos Mandas are all expected to enter Baroni's lineup this Thursday, just like in the Europa League.