Lazio boss Edy Reja offered his resignation following the 5-1 defeat to Palermo and it remains to be seen who will lead the Biancocelesti in this very important clash. Just like their next opponents, Fiorentina are low on confidence after back to back defeats to Napoli and Bologna, and everything suggests we will witness a pretty uneventful game at Olimpico.

Luigi Di Canio could replace Edy Reja

Lazio have had their share of disappointing defeats this season, with 4-0 loss to Siena and 5-1 defeat to Palermo springing to mind, but coach Reja is right when saying that his side are often being criticized for no reason. In spite of all the problems the team faced this season, the Biancocelesti currently occupy 4th place in Serie A and things are not as bad as the press is trying to suggest. Lazio were knocked out of the Europa League, but they are still in the race for Champions League places, which was the main objective at the start of the season. The players will be low on confidence after four defeats in last five games and the uncertainty surrounding Edy Reja is unlikely to help them beat Fiorentina. Lazio have been mostly playing high-scoring games of late, but with both the hosts and their opponents terribly low on confidence, we are likely to see a very tight game, with chances few and far between.

Andre Dias and Matuzalem miss out through suspension, whereas Brocchi, Radu, Cana, Rocchi, Stankevicius and Konko are all out injured.

Stop Jovetic and you’ve stopped Fiorentina

Fiorentina look unable to leave the mid table mediocrity and as things stand now, Viola should be happy if they manage to avoid the relegation tussle. You would expect a side boasting players like Vargas, Montolivo, Jovetic and Behrami to be fighting for European positions, but both Sinisa Mihajlovic and Delio Rossi have been unable to get the maximum out of this team. Fiorentina are becoming incredibly predictable up front as everything depends on the genius of Stevan Jovetic, meaning that Lazio are likely to keep a clean sheet if they neutralize the Montenegrin forward. The mere fact that last time when Fiorentina won a game without Jovetic on the scoresheet was in October perfectly illustrates my point. Having failed to score a single goal in three of their last five games, Viola could find it hard to score at Olimpico.

Mattia Cassani, Alessandro Gamberini and Ruben Olivera are all suspended, while Houssine Kharja and Per Kroldrup are out through injury.

Verdict

Lazio are completely out of confidence after yet another defeat and the Biancocelesti are bound to have problems in their build-up play. Fiorentina are in similar position, but they are even more disappointing when it comes to creating and scoring goals, which is why I believe under 2.5 goals is a good option here.

Our prediction: Under 2.5 goals

Odds: 1.70 (7/10)

Bookmaker: BetVictor