Lazio play host to Napoli on Sunday night with both teams looking to continue their impressive string of form. With the Champions League place at stake for both sides, the forthcoming clash is bound to be a keenly-contested clash.

Harmless defeat

Lazio saw their impressive 10-match unbeaten run come to an end in the midweek semifinal Coppa Italia return leg defeat at the hands of AS Roma. Biancocelesti suffered a harmless 3-2 loss, which still saw them seal their place in the final thanks to the 2-0 victory in the first leg. Highly-rated Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and reinvigorated striker Ciro Immobile continued their impressive form with a goal each and will be urged to keep the great shape going as long as possible. Buoyed by their Coppa Italia success, Simone Inzaghi’s men shift their focus to Serie A exploits and the high-profile clash against Napoli on Sunday night. Lazio’s impressive form this season allowed them to join the Champions League race and Inzaghi’s men are currently four points behind the place that guarantees a place in the UCL qualifiers, occupied exactly by Napoli. A win over Partenopei would cut the gap to only one point and make the Serie A closing stages even more interesting than they already are. Lazio failed to beat Napoli in any of their last three meetings, but their sizzling form could serve as a promise of a fine match to come.

Stefan de Vrij remains a player Simone Inzaghi will not be able to call upon for the forthcoming fixture, whereas Federico Marchetti could also miss out on the Napoli match due to his knee problem.

Useless win

Contrary to their Sunday’s rivals who lost the Coppa Italia return leg and still made it into the finals, Napoli have seen their 3-2 win over Juventus go to waste due to a 3-1 defeat in Turin in the first leg. Napoli’s old boy Gonzalo Higuain scored a brace to ruin his former team’s chances of making it into the final and it was just another dagger he stabbed into Napoli’s heart following his last summer’s transfer to Juventus. Partenopei have now been eliminated from the second competition in the matter of weeks after the Champions league disappointment and the Serie A race is all they have been left with. Napoli occupy the third place in the standings, ten points behind leaders Juventus and although the title race is beyond their reach, the automatic promotion to Champions League in second place in the standings is four points away. Napoli are stuck in the middle of Roma and Lazio in the third place, with equal amount of points behind and in front of each of the Rome’s clubs as things stand right now. High-scoring Partenopei will do their best to make the closing stages of the Serie A season worthwhile and will be looking to replicate the scenario from their last visit to Stadio Olimpico when they recorded a 2-0 win over Lazio a year ago.

Maurizio Sarri is pleased to report a clean bill of health for the forthcoming fixture with the exception of Lorenzo Tonelli, who could remain on the sidelines due to his injury problem.

Verdict

Both Lazio and Napoli have been in fine form of late, scoring goals for fun but also conceding more than they would have wanted. With plenty at stake for both sides on Sunday, we expect to see an openly-contested affair in Rome. Goals are the one thing we would like to focur our attention on.

Top pick: Over 2.5 goals   1.65 (13/20) @Betfair

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score – yes   1.56 (5/9) @10Bet

Alternative pick 2: Lazio draw no Bet   2.10 (11/10) @PaddyPower