Lazio will be looking to return to winning ways in Serie A when they continue their domestic campaign at home to Genoa on Friday evening.
The White and Sky Blues are currently ninth in Italy's top flight, having picked up 25 points from 17 matches, while Genoa sit 18th, collecting only 10 points from their first 17 league games of the season.
Match preview
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A record of seven wins, four draws and six defeats from 17 matches has brought Lazio 25 points, which has left them in ninth position in the table, some 11 points behind fourth-placed Napoli.
Maurizio Sarri's side have found it difficult to show any form of consistency in the league in recent weeks, winning only one of their last five at this level, while they will enter Friday's contest off the back of a 2-1 defeat at Sassuolo on December 12.
Lazio have finished fourth and sixth in their last two Serie A campaigns, while they claimed third as recent as 2014-15, but the team currently look short of being able to challenge for a top-four spot this term.
The White and Sky Blues have managed to progress to the knockout round of the Europa League, though, claiming second spot in Group E, and they will take on Porto in a two-legged affair early next year.
A win for Sarri's team on Friday would see them move level on points with seventh-placed Juventus and sixth-placed Roma, leaving them just two points shy of Fiorentina in fifth, which would lead them nicely into their final match of the year away to Venezia on December 22.
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Genoa, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 victory over Salernitana in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday, which has seen them advance to the third round of the competition.
The cup success would have boosted confidence, but the Red and Blues have not triumphed in Serie A since September 12, and they are currently down in 18th spot in the table, picking up just 10 points from 17 matches.
Just one victory from 17 Serie A matches this season is a real concern, but there are only two points separating the strugglers from 17th-placed Spezia, and there is a lot of football left to be played this term.
Genoa were last in league action at home to Sampdoria on December 10, suffering a 3-1 loss, meaning that new head coach Andriy Shevchenko has delivered just one point from five Serie A games at the helm.
The Griffin have been present in Italy's top flight since 2007, while they finished 11th last season, so it would be a huge surprise if they were to drop down to Serie B for the 2022-23 campaign.
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Team News
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Lazio will again be unable to call upon Bobby Adekanye due to injury, but key midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is available, having served a suspension against Sassuolo.
Milinkovic-Savic should return in a midfield area for the hosts, while head coach Sarri could also decide to introduce Felipe Anderson into the starting XI ahead of Pedro.
Ciro Immobile has scored 16 times in 21 appearances for Lazio this season, including 13 goals in 15 Serie A outings, and the Italy international will again feature at the tip of the home side's attack.
Genoa, meanwhile, will again be without the services of Nicolo Rovella, Felipe Caicedo and Mohamed Fares for Friday's contest with Sarri's side.
Mattia Destro came off the bench to score in the 3-1 loss to Sampdoria on December 10 and is now expected to be included in the starting XI.
Goran Pandev should also feature in the final third of the field, with Caleb Ekuban likely to be on the bench despite scoring the only goal of the match against Salernitana in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday.
Lazio possible starting lineup:
Strakosha; Hysaj, Felipe, Acerbi, Marusic; Cataldi, Milinkovic-Savic, Basic; Anderson, Immobile, Zaccagni
Genoa possible starting lineup:
Sirigu; Vanheusden, Masiello, Criscito; Ghiglione, Sturaro, Badelj, Hernani, Cambiaso; Destro, Pandev
We say: Lazio 2-0 Genoa
Genoa are more than capable of making this a tricky match for Lazio despite their problems this season. That said, the White and Blues have a lot of quality in the forward areas, and we are expecting the home side to put an important three points on the board in relatively routine fashion.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Lazio win with a probability of 67.88%. A draw had a probability of 18.6% and a win for Genoa had a probability of 13.48%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lazio win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.12%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.01%) and 2-1 (9.77%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.79%), while for a Genoa win it was 0-1 (3.96%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 7.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Lazio would win this match.
