Obviously the Lazio coach sacrificed their midweek game away to Villareal (Europa League) in favour of this one, hoping the rest his more important players got will help them end the 9 games run without a single win in Serie A.
However, it won’t be easy against A Milanese side that has not lost in 7 games (all competitions) and appearing to be gaining momentum on both domestic and continental frontiers, despite glitches here and there.
The last time out Lazio only managed a single point from their visit to bottom side Siena, and before that they conceded a home defeat to mid-table side Cagliari. These were even worse outcomes in comparison to a home draw to Sampdoria (3rd on the table) and an away draw at Florence to Fiorentina (5th) achieved earlier.
Milan will be wary they could be slipping out of the CL positions on the table with a defeat today, but will probably be counting on their away form of late that saw them beat Real Madrid and Chievo, with draws to Atalanta and Napoli in their last 4 travels, scoring a total of 8 goals in them.
That and the fact Lazio have not been able to beat Milan in a league game for the last 11 seasons makes me think Lazio –at this form- are incapable of ending that run today.
Gattuso is out injured for Milan, but Leonardo will have no other worries regarding his starting line-up. Likewise, Ballardini will only miss Julio Cruz and Ousmane Dabo, but the squad is virtually complete otherwise.
As the followers of these tips know, I’m never lucky when betting on Milan though. Rather than taking them to win I will opt for the over 2.5 goals option. Win or lose, Milan will score, and so will Lazio. You can -of course- also back Milan to win at your own peril.
Picks:
Over 2.5 goals @ 2.10 w/ Paddy Power