An advance with a bang. In fact, the highlight of matchday 17 will take place this evening at the Olimpico stadium in Rome, where Inter will go to play for the important chances of the Scudetto. In front, however, he will find a rather fierce Lazio, which has so far built its ranking right within the friendly walls. Apart from the incident against Genoa (but it was 23 September), Petkovic's men picked up 6 wins and 1 draw in 8 matches at the Olimpico. An important roadmap, which explains the excellent ranking of the biancocelesti, fourth alone with 30 points, -8 from leaders Juventus and -4 from Inter. However, the Nerazzurri cannot be frightened by these figures: in addition to having won 6 away games, they have almost always beaten the big teams (apart from Rome, but here too we were at the start of the championship).
If anything, the problems came with the little ones, both at home and away, but Stramaccioni prefers to look at the full side of the glass: “The showdowns in the clashes with the big ones give us the awareness that we can do well, even if we have room for improvement. I'd be more concerned if we disappointed with the first four. Up to now, Juve has shown more continuity and is deservedly first. We lost points at a time when several players were missing, they have had more consistency and are ahead. Lazio will tell us if we have grown in terms of continuity". Yes, otherwise Juventus (playing at home against Atalanta) could really escape tomorrow, and even the second position would be at risk again. In short, it is forbidden to make mistakes, but with the awareness of the opponent's strength.
“Lazio did a great first part of the championship, despite the skepticism with which Petkovic's management began – admitted Stramaccioni. – I only remember one disappointing match in Naples. We'll have to be careful, it's a quality team." No proclamations and a lot of respect, which should also be reflected in the training choices. Just like against Napoli, the trident will almost certainly remain in the attic, with Guarin ready to support Cassano and Milito, along the lines of what we saw last Sunday. Samuel's return will then allow Cambiasso to return to midfield with Gargano, with Zanetti and Nagatomo on the flanks and Pereira on the bench. These will be the men, while there is still a bit of uncertainty on the formation: Strama seems oriented towards confirming the 3-4-1-2 formation required, but in the last few days he has also tried the 4-man defense (Zanetti on the right , Ranocchia and Samuel in the middle and Juan Jesus climbed to the left), which would limit the overflowing Lazio wingers. On the other hand, Sneijder's absence is 100% certain, once again out of the squad list.
POSSIBLE FORMATIONS
Lazio (4-5-1): Marchetti; Konko, Biava, Ciani, Radu; Candreva, Hernanes, Ledesma, Gonzalez, Mauri; close.
On the bench: Bizzarri, Carrizo, Dias, Diakite, Cana, Onazi, Lulic, Rozzi, Scaloni, Brocchi, Floccari, Zarate.
Trainer: Vladimir Petkovic.
Unavailable: Ederson, Stankevicius, Zauri, Rocchi.
Disqualified: Kozak, Cavanda.
Inter Milan (3-4-1-2): Handanovic; Ranocchia, Samuel, Juan Jesus; Zanetti, Gargano, Cambiasso, Nagatomo; Guarin; Milito, Cassano.
On the bench: Castellazzi, Belec, Silvestre, Mbaye, Benassi, Duncan, Romanò, Coutinho, Mariga, Pereira, Palacio, Livaja.
Trainer: Andrea Stramaccioni.
Unavailable: Stankovic, Obi, Chivu, Mudingayi.
Disqualified: nobody.
Referee: Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni (Bergamo).
Line Assistants: By Liberatore – Giordano.
Port Assistants: Banti – Damato.
Fourth official: little nose.
