Derbies are always a special fixture in club football all around the world. Teams always give their best and a little extra as well to cross the finishing line. The same is going to be witnessed when AS Roma host Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.
What makes the contest even more special this time around is their position in the Serie A. AS Roma lie at the second position with 29 points while Lazio have been impressive as they are on 28 points, at the fourth place.
Roma, after their loss to Atlanta in the Serie A, have been decent winning two back-to-back matches in all competitions, scoring seven goals. Lazio are an in-form team in the Sere A. After losing to AC Milan in September, Lazio have not been beaten by any team. With such a record, Lazio will have their tails up for this derby clash.
Lazio are a team on a high under boss Simone Inzaghi, and they will be keen to maintain that record further. Inzaghi has also played similar derbies when he was a player himself, so he knows the pressure which comes along with it. But this time he will be on the bench. He must have made some serious plans to defeat Roma.
"Tomorrow will be a special game. I played so many matches against Roma as a football player and some others as coach in Academy. It will be the first derby for me on the first team's bench. We prepared the game as usual. We know that we will face a strong team. We have to play with humility and determination. Tomorrow we will have to fight until the last second," Lazio's official website quoted Inzhagi as saying.
"We want to stay at the top of the table, the difficult is starting now. We want to maintain this position, but it won't be easy. The group is in a good condition, I'm involving all of them."
The visitors will look for players such as Felipe Anderson, Lucas Bigila and Ciro Immobile to help them defeat Roma. If these players shine in the derby, Roma could be in all sorts of trouble.
But Roma also have a strong team with some quality stars in world football including Edin Dzeko, Kevin Strootman, Radja Nainggolan as well. However, Roma manager Luciano Spalletti will need to find their top game without influential player Mohamed Salah, who is injured. El Shaarawy is also doubtful for the clash.
With Salah unavailable, it remains to be seen the formation the manager will adopt. He does not want to think about it much as the players picked must play good football to take three points.
"No matter what formation we play, the aim is always to go out there and play football – that's the most important thing. We've shown we're able to adapt and play in different ways, last season one way and this season another. Salah excels when it comes to getting in behind the opposition's backline but we're perfectly capable of playing on the deck too," Roma's official website quoted the manager as saying.
With both teams possessing some good offensive players, the derby may depend on how solid they are at the back as well. There will be pressure on players from both teams as they will never want to lose a derby of this magnitude, which makes the clash even more interesting.
Where to watch live
AS Roma vs Lazio is scheduled to kick off at 3 pm local time (7.30 pm IST, 9 am EST, 2 pm GMT)
INDIA: TV: No coverage
UK: TV: BT Sport 2. Live streaming: BT Sport Live
USA: TV: Bein Sports, RAI International. Live streaming: Bein Sports Connect
ITALY: TV: Sky Calcio 1,PremiumSport2 HD. Live streaming: Sky Go Italia
