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Lazio will host Romanian side FC FCSB in the second leg of this Europa League tie, and the Italians will have a difficult job trying to qualify after losing the first leg 0-1.
Lazio went trough a rough patch of form recently with 4 losses and a draw in 5 matches, and the loss in Romania was the icing on the cake. Even though Lazio mixed the lineup a little bit and probably didn`t deserve to lose that game, the result was still very disappointing. However, the Italians finally got back to winning ways on Monday in the Serie A against Verona (2-0), so they will draw confidence from that result coming into this match against the Romanians.
FC FCSB (former Steaua Bucharest) played a good game at home and while they were a bit lucky to escape with the win, they did go toe to toe with Lazio and were at least pretty much their equals. FCSB is having a decent season, sitting on the second place in Romania, and their European campaign has been solid. They won their Europa League group stage easily against Plzen, Beer Sheva and Lugano. Last time out they salvaged a draw against rivals Dinamo Bucharest on Sunday, despite being 0-2 down in the 85th minute.
Team news & lineups:
Lazio will miss Luiz Felipe and Di Gennaro. FCSB will be without Alibec and Pintilii (who is arguably their most or second most important player).
Lazio: Strakosha – Bastos, De Vrij, Radu – Basta, Lulic, Leiva, Milinkovic-Savic, Lukaku – Anderson, Immobile
FCSB: Vlad – Benzar, Planic, Gaman, Morais – Nedelcu, Filip – Man, Budescu, Tanase – Gnohere
Lazio`s win against Verona on Monday will probably give them confidence and get them back on track after the recent run of bad results. It will be a difficult task for them to overturn the result from the first leg here, but they do have the first chance to qualify despite starting from 0-1 down.
Lazio, in poor form and with a number of key players on the bench, was still arguably the better team in Bucharest. They should have gotten a draw, as they had a couple of huge chances, so that tells you a lot about the quality difference between the two sides.
At home, with a confidence building win under their belt, and likely to field a stronger lineup than in Bucharest, Lazio should be able to dominate this game and claim a win. The Italians will also be more focused and determined, as this will be a do or die game, unlike the one in Bucharest.
FCSB will put on a fight and will probably make a good account of themselves, but in the end Lazio should be too strong at Olimpico. Pintilii’s absence has the potential to hurt FCSB a lot, as he is the coach on the pitch and the glue of the team at the defensive midfielder position. Him not being there will make it hard for the Romanians to deal with the opposing pressure and to win the ball back.
My tip will be Lazio to cover the -1 asian handicap. The odds are low, but the risk on the bet is low as well, especially considering that FCSB wouldn`t mind a 1 goal loss at all (particularly if they score). Prediction: Lazio – FCSB 2-0.
Pick: Lazio (-1 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 1.48 @ 18Bet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 3.84
Event date: 22 February
My friend you contradict yourself. You said that Fcsb was at least equal with lazio at bucharest. And later you wrote that lazio was arguably the better team in Buckarest.
And you also said that Fcsb won easily their group stage.False information because Plzen won that group
I don`t think I contradicted myself if you read the whole preview. It was a close game, Lazio was probably the slightly better team, but no big difference. I admit maybe I made a poor choice of words saying FCSB were “at least” Lazio`s equals, I meant something like “mostly”, or “pretty much”.
You are right about FCSB finishing second in the group, my mistake. I forgot they lost the first place in the last round, and I didn`t double check. It doesn`t change the fact that they dominated the group, but still I apologize for the error.
Thx for the corrections, mate.
thank u rostick, u are great as always. 4-0 now, it will be 11-0 or something if Lazio tries. But probably they will not try and it will be 5-1 or something. I took Lazio -1.5 and it is so easy win. How did this fsbc team get in this round lol.
you called it 🙂
I’ll tell you how they got here. They drew the most favorable possible teams in the qualifying round AND in the group stage. They had a complete joke of a group and even that they didn’t manage to win. One of the most overhyped teams you’ll ever find!