Separated by just one point and one place in the Serie A standings, Lazio and fellow top-four contenders Atalanta BC clash on Saturday evening at Stadio Olimpico.
Losing last week saw La Dea slip to fifth, while their hosts were held by lowly Verona to be overtaken by arch-rivals Roma.
Match preview
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Despite a fabulous finish from Pedro that gave them the lead just before the break, Lazio lost a lead for the second successive league game last week at Verona's Stadio Bentegodi - missing a chance to bypass their oldest foes in the table.
Having been held by Fiorentina in their previous Serie A fixture - before going out of the Coppa Italia to Juventus - Maurizio Sarri's side conceded shortly after half time and ultimately had to settle for a draw with the 17th-placed Scaligeri.
Should they share the points again this Saturday, Lazio would draw three Serie A matches in a row for the first time since 2018 - further stalling their push for a top-four finish come June.
Before tackling CFR Cluj in the Europa Conference League next week, the Biancocelesti's thoughts will therefore be firmly fixed on beating another one of the five clubs realistically vying for three Champions League spots behind distant leaders Napoli.
Recent precedent is certainly not on their side, though, as Lazio have won only two of their last 11 Serie A games against Atalanta and have yet to do the double over La Dea since Gian Piero Gasperini took charge in 2016.
Nonetheless, they have kept a clean sheet in both of their last two league meetings with Gasperini's side - including October's reverse fixture, a 2-0 win in Bergamo.
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While they were beaten at home on that occasion, Atalanta last lost to Lazio at the Olimpico back in January 2017, and since then they have recorded three draws and two wins on Roman soil.
Such a record may inspire Gasperini's troops when they march into the capital this weekend, aiming for a response to their frustrating defeat at Sassuolo last Saturday - a result which ended some scintillating league form in the early throes of 2023.
With Joakim Maehle sent off on the half-hour mark, Atalanta were always up against it in Emilia-Romagna, and another away failure - their fourth in five games - sees them occupying fifth place after 21 rounds of Serie A action.
The Nerazzurri were also knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Inter at the end of last month, and a 1-0 reverse in that tie at San Siro means that following a goal-laden spell in mid-January, they have now fired successive blanks.
Absent from European competition this year, returning to the Champions League via a top-four finish is now Gasperini's sole focus - beating a direct rival in that regard would help his team's cause significantly.
Team News
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Following his fruitless shift in Verona last week, Ciro Immobile has failed to find the net in his last four Serie A matches and will now aim to avoid going five without scoring for the first time since 2021: a total of seven league goals also represents the Lazio captain's lowest tally at this stage of the season for a decade.
He should still lead the line in an attacking triumvirate also featuring Mattia Zaccagni and Pedro, though Felipe Anderson is also in contention to start.
A minor concern over Danilo Cataldi aside, Maurizio Sarri finds himself in the fortunate position of having a virtually full squad available, with recent signing Luca Pellegrini among those hoping for promotion to the first XI.
By contrast, Atalanta will be without suspended pair Joakim Maehle and Luis Muriel - the latter of whom joined his teammate in being sent off last week, right at the end of the loss to Sassuolo.
Maehle's fellow wing-back Davide Zappacosta misses out with a hamstring injury, and Jose Luis Palomino is sidelined by a thigh problem.
Matteo Ruggeri is the man most likely to deputise for Maehle, but the visitors may be otherwise unchanged, as Rasmus Hojlund and Ademola Lookman continue their promising partnership up front.
That would see Duvan Zapata consigned to the bench again: the Colombian striker has scored just once in Serie A this season, and of his four league goals against Lazio in a long Calcio career, only one has come at the Olimpico.
Lazio possible starting lineup:
Provedel; Lazzari, Romagnoli, Casale, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Alberto; Pedro, Immobile, Zaccagni
Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Musso; Toloi, Djimsiti, Scalvini; Hateboer, De Roon, Koopmeiners, Ruggeri; Boga, Lookman; Hojlund
We say: Lazio 2-1 Atalanta BC
No team has scored more Serie A goals inside the first half-hour of play than Lazio (14), so there is always the chance they can catch their visitors cold with a fast start. If they do take the lead on Saturday, they will be doubly determined to make amends for recent lapses and keep Atalanta at bay - though not without some difficulty.
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