Juventus vs Lazio

Allianz Stadium forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering Serie A showdown between Juventus and Lazio.

Juventus lost further ground on early Serie A pacesetters Napoli on the stroke of October’s international break, courtesy of a gut-wrenching 1-1 home draw against hot relegation candidates Cagliari. That was Juve’s fourth stalemate across their last five league outings (W1). And while that’s unfamiliar territory for ‘I Bianconeri,’ new head coach Thiago Motta is on the verge of earning a reputation as a ‘stalemate specialist,’ having unfathomably drawn nine of his last 15 Serie A games as a manager, six of which ended 0-0. The Turin faithful will be desperate to see their team return to winning ways after drawing their last three league outings at the Allianz Stadium, making for their longest winless run in top-flight home action since 2015. Lazio’s upcoming visit bodes well, considering the record-time Italian champions have emerged victorious from five of the last six Serie A H2Hs they’ve hosted (D1).

That dreadful run forms part of a more sinister pattern, which has seen Lazio go winless on their last eight competitive visits to Turin (D1, L7) since running out victorious in October 2017. But unlike their opposition, ‘I Biancocelesti’ entered the international break in a buoyant mood after leaving it late to beat Empoli 2-1. A come-from-behind home triumph against the early Serie A surprise package made it four straight wins in all competitions for Marco Baroni’s side. Impressively, Lazio netted an average of three goals per game during that sequence, highlighting the potential for halting their barren run at Juventus. However, they’d be naive to take anything for granted, especially after losing twice on their three Serie A travels this season (W1).