07 April 2023
Juventus travel to Rome for Saturday's matchday 29 showdown in the knowledge they will line up against one of the in-form sides in Serie A.
On the back of six clean sheets in a row, from which they have collected 16 points, second-placed Lazio have put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.
THE SEASON SO FAR...
Although Juventus are the team that has collected the most points in Serie A since February following seven wins and one defeat in the eight league games, Lazio over this same period have earned 17 points, behind only Juve and Napoli.
With five wins and a draw, Maurizio Sarri's side have remained unbeaten in their last six Serie A matches and in a single season they have not done better since February 2021, when they went on a seven-match run without loss. The positive moment has been built around a solid defence with six consecutive clean sheets. The Biancoceleste could equal their historic record in Serie A of seven games in a row without conceding a goal achieved between February and March 1998 when Sven-Göran Eriksson was in the dugout.
Lazio have constructed their success on starting strongly. In fact, they boast the best defence of the first half of matches this season, with just four goals conceded - one of which in the first meeting against Juve, while the Bianconeri boast the best defence after the interval, conceding only nine goals conceded in the second half throughout the league campaign.
What's more, the Biancoceleste have scored the most in the opening 15 minutes, netting 10 goals in the first quarter of an hour, 23% of their 44-goal total. At the other end, they are the only team yet to concede in the first 15 minutes of a game this season, as well as being the side that has conceded the fewest first half goals - only four - throughout Europe's top-five leagues.
Immobile is a player that attacks space, making deep runs and is a danger in the area. Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus Coach
KEEP AN EYE ON...
Mattia Zaccagni and Ciro Immobile are the two Italian-born players that have scored most this season. Both players have netted nine times so far. Zaccagni could reach double digits for the first time in Serie A, while Immobile could do it for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.
The Lazio captain has scored 159 goals for Lazio in Serie A, becoming the club's all-time top scorer. Since his arrival at the Biancoceleste in season 2016/17, only Lionel Messi (162 with Barcelona) and Robert Lewandowski (191 with Bayern Munich) managed to score more goals in Europe's top-five leagues with a single team.
However, he does not find the going easy against the club he enjoyed his first taste of top-flight football with. Of the 21 teams he has met at least three times at the Olimpico in Serie A, Immobile boasts the worst home goal average against the Bianconeri - just one goal every 561 minutes played.
Immobile was absent when the sides first met this season in Serie A. The number 17 did start in the Coppa Italia match at the Allianz Stadium on February 2 but having just returned from injury he was substituted at half time. The situation has repeated itself since the striker has recently recovered from another injury, making an appearance as a substitute in last weekend's win over Monza after having sat out all of Lazio's fixtures following their defeat of Napoli on March 3.
