Juventus can claim the first part of a potential treble on Wednesday night when they take on Lazio in the Coppa Italia final.
Despite being a cup final, the match will be played at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, which is where Lazio play their home matches. This surely gives Lazio a slight edge, as they play in the stadium every other week.
However, Juventus will feel they have what it takes to defeat any team, anywhere when at full-strength and will surely embrace the opportunity to win the Coppa Italia in Lazio’s own back yard.
Juventus vs. Lazio
Copa Italia – Wednesday 17th May 2017 – 8:00pm
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Draw Best Odd of: 12/5 at Ladbrokes |
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Juventus
LazioJuventus Form
Juventus tasted their first defeat in 10 games on the weekend, as they went down 3-1 to Roma at the same venue this final will be played. Having taken the lead in the first-half, Max Allegri will be disappointed his team did not go on to win the game and claim the Serie A title.
The Juventus manager called the result a “a wake-up call” and admits Juventus were falling asleep, having lost some of their focus lately.
Still, the club are just a victory over Crotone away from winning Serie A and come into this match as the favourites. Juventus have tasted defeat twice in their last 26 games in all competitions and having rested a couple of key players on the weekend, will feel good about their chances of winning this final.
Lazio Form
Lazio went down 3-2 at Fiorentina on the weekend but are guaranteed a place in the Europa League next season via their league position.
It has been a decent season for Simone Inzaghi and he will be hoping to crown it by lifting the Coppa Italia in the Stadio Olimpico.
The defeat in Florence was Lazio’s first in 5 games and halted a run of 3 successive victories in Serie A. Inzaghi chose to rest players with this game in mind and will revert to his strongest available XI, one which has been performing well in recent games.
Lazio have been enjoying themselves in-front of goal towards the end of the season and have scored 22 goals in their last 7 games, at an average of 3.14 goals per game.
Team News
Juventus will welcome back Dani Alves and Paulo Dybala, who were both rested on the weekend. However, Sami Khedira has been ruled out of the game and with Miralem Pjanic suspended, Claudio Marchisio will be paired with Mario Lemina in central midfield.
Lazio will be hoping Marco Parolo recovers in time for this game and can take his place in central midfield. If available, this could see Senad Lulic move into a more advanced role, alongside the dangerous Keita Balde.
Top Betting Tips
Juventus have won their last 6 matches against Lazio in all competitions. The Old Lady have also kept a clean sheet in all 6 of those games and can be backed to win this game to nil at 5/2 with PaddyPower.
In 4 of the 6 games mentioned above, Juventus have won the match by 2 or more goals and you can get 23/10 with Ladbrokes for Juventus to repeat that in this game.
Given their recent record against Juventus, you feel Lazio must get the first goal of the game, if they are to give themselves any chance of winning. Inzaghi will be looking towards the in-form Keita Balde to get them off to the perfect start.
The striker has netted 7 goals in his last 4 games and is on offer at 15/2 with Bet356 to score the first goal of the game.