Everything you need to know ahead of Thursday's game
After the away win over Torino in Serie A, thanks to Scott McTominay's fourth goal of the season, the Coppa Italia is back, in which the Scottish midfielder scored his first goal for the Azzurri on 26 September. Napoli will be facing Lazio away in the tournament for the first time since 2015 when, with Rafa Benitez in charge, they drew 1-1 in the first leg of the semi-final against the Biancocelesti. However, the last time the two teams crossed paths in the competition dates back to 21 January 2020, when the team then coached by Gennaro Gattuso won Napoli’s eighth Coppa Italia encounter against Lazio. Antonio Conte's men will be trying to record their second consecutive win against Lazio in the competition.
Lazio head into this game keen for redemption. Following a draw against Ludogorets in the Europa League and a heavy defeat against Parma in Serie A, Marco Baroni’s side will want to avoid going more than two consecutive matches without a win in all competitions for what would be only the second time in this calendar year, after a series of four defeats recorded between last February and March. The atmosphere that awaits Giovanni Di Lorenzo and his team-mates will certainly be a challenging one, given that the Olimpico has become a real fortress for the Biancocelesti - they haven’t lost in front of their own fans in the last 16 league and cup games (13W, 3D) and have not recorded a longer streak of home matches without defeat in all competitions since the period between May 2005 and February 2006, when they went 17 games undefeated.
Aggression, wing play and men in the box: the hallmark’s of Lazio's football
Lazio play very aggressive football, as evidenced by the PPDA (Passed allowed Per Defensive Action) pressing index: taking all competitions into account, the Biancocelesti are third in Serie A for allowing the fewest passes made by their opponents in their half of the field before making a defensive intervention - 10.8, with only Bologna and Roma ahead of them. In general, including the teams currently in the Italian top flight, Lazio have carried out the most defensive actions in the current season league and cups (556). Once they have won back the ball, Marco Baroni asks his players to play direct football right away and, not surprisingly, only Fiorentina (five) have scored more goals on counter-attacks than Lazio (four) out of all Serie A teams.
Wing play is where Lazio are really dangerous – they have attempted 338 crosses from open play this season, a record among teams in the top five European leagues in all competitions. Taty Castellanos and his team-mates frequently occupy the penalty area, with 525 touches in the last 16.5 metres, and only Atalanta have recorded more. Additionally, Lazio have scored 39 goals this season from inside the area between league and cups, a record among Serie A clubs.
Rovella Lazio’s engine, Castellanos’s Lazio’s finisher
Nicolo Rovella is at the centre of Lazio’s game: the young midfielder has started more moves in open play than any other Lazio player (156) and, in general, only Tijjani Reijnders (92.3%) boasts a percentage of successful passes higher than that of the Lazio number six (92.0%), out of Serie A players in the same position who have attempted at least 500 in the season. In addition to his importance in the build-up play, Rovella also plays a fundamental role when Lazio don’t have the ball. Among the outfield players in Serie A he sits second in the ranking both for balls recovered (88, less only than Ederson), and for tackles made (47, behind only Morten Frendrup).
Napoli’s defence will be keeping an especially keen eye on Valentin Castellanos, Lazio's top scorer in the 2024/25 season with eight goals in all competitions (including the one in the last Serie A matchday against Parma) and the only Biancoceleste in double figures for goals and assists, having provided two of the latter. However, after scoring five goals in his first four home appearances of the season between league and cup competitions the Lazio striker failed to score in all of the followed six. The Azzurri defenders will have the task of containing Taty and denying him another match on the scoresheet.
The match will be offiiated by Luca Pairetto, assisted by Berti, Bahri and Rapuano, while Serra and Mazzoleni will be on VAR duties.
