Serie A preview and betting tips: Goals on the menu as Lazio visit Inter in crucial top-four clash
- Sergiu Baltuta
- 30 April 2023
Rome meets Milan for the second time in Serie A this weekend as Inter take on Lazio at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Sunday’s early kick-off. Tipstrr football pundit Sergiu Baltuta takes a closer look.
Champions elect Napoli will no doubt be keeping a close eye on proceedings because if Lazio fail to win in Milan, then the league leaders can clinch the title by beating Salernitana later on Sunday afternoon.
More significantly for the teams concerned, this game has huge implications for Champions League qualification, especially for Inter, for whom a victory will see them leapfrog both Roma and AC Milan after those two top-four rivals shared a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Goals are a common feature of games between Inter and Lazio, including this season's reverse fixture which was won 3-1 by the Roman outfit.
Both teams have found the net in each of their last six encounters, five of which were won by the home team, with the other ending as a 1-1 draw.
Suggested bet:
Both teams to score- Yes
Simone Inzaghi's Inter team are just emerging from a worrying slump that saw them win just one of nine games in all competitions (drawn four, lost four).
That solitary win came at Benfica, with whom they also shared a 3-3 home draw to send them through to in an eagerly anticipated Champions League semi-final against Milan.
That result seems to have boosted form and confidence in the Inter camp, as they have since managed a 3-0 away win against Empoli (their first win in six league outings), and then on Wednesday a hard-earned 1-0 home win against Juventus earned them a spot in the final of the Coppa Italia, where they will face Fiorentina.
With the six teams beneath Napoli closely packed, second-placed Lazio are not assured a top-four finish, and the team led by Maurizio Sarri arrive in Milan after a surprising home defeat to Torino last weekend, ending an eight-game unbeaten run.
Lazio have not lost on their Serie A travels since their 1-2 reversal at Lecce in early January and remarkably they have not conceded in any of their last five away league games (won four, drew one). Maybe that is less surprising considering they share the best defensive record in the division, with only Napoli matching their meagre 21 goals conceded.
Striker Ciro Immobile remains Lazio's most potent threat, but it is worth noting that Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has also found the net six times this season, and has a good record against Inter, scoring in four of their last six encounters. He's a tasty price to do so again for anyone who believes he can do so again.
Suggested bet:
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to score at any time
