On Tuesday, starting with 20:00, the Lazio – Zenit match will be played, within the group stage of the Champions League. In the round, the two teams drew in St. Petersburg, score 1-1, the scorers being Erokhin and Caicedo, respectively. The meeting on the tour was the only previous one between Lazio and Zenit, in the history of the European cups.
Lazio defeated Crotone at the weekend, score 2-0 away from Serie A and has a series of 7 consecutive matches without defeat, in all competitions. The team of Radu Stefan and Simone Inzaghi ticked 14 points in the first 8 stages of Serie A, being ranked 7th in the standings, 3 points away from the leader of AC Milan. At home, Lazio has 5 points out of 12 possible in Italy, and in the group in the Champions League it ranks second, with 5 points, one length behind the leader Dortmund.
After the draw with Akhmat, score 2-2 at the weekend, Zenit recovered its first position in the first Russian league, but TSKA having a less disputed match at that moment. However, Sergei Semak’s group suffers away and has only 3 victories in the 8 foreign stages in Russia. In the Champions League, Zenit comes after a 1-1 draw with Lazio at home and ranks 4th in the group, with only one point. The Russian champion lost in the first two stages with Bruges, score 1-2 and with Dortmund, score 0-2.
In the tour, the two teams drew in Russia, score 1-1, the only previous direct meeting;
Lazio was the quarterfinalist of the Champions League in the 1999/2000 season;
Zenit passed the group stage of the Champions League 3 times, being eliminated each time in the round of 16;
Lazio (3-5-2): Pepe Reina (GK); Patric, Wesley Hoedt, Stefan Radu; Marco Parolo, Andreas Pereira, Danilo Cataldi, Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro, Adam Marusic; Felipe Caicedo, Ciro Immobile
Zenith (4-1-4-1): Mikhail Kerzhakov (GK), Danil Krugovoy, Dejan Lovren, Yaroslav Rakitsky, Douglas Santos; W.Barrios; Aleksandr Yerokhin, Daler Kuzyaev, Andrey Mostovoy, Yuri Zhirkov; Artem Dzyuba
PREDICTION: Lazio to win @ 1,66
