The Coppa Italia round of 16 continues on Tuesday. One of the standout ties of the round sees Lazio and Udinese go head-to-head at Stadio Olimpico.
The two sides are separated by 15 points in the Serie A standings, with Lazio leading Udinese. However, Udinese have two games in hand over the Eagles.
For that reason, Lazio are expected to reach the quarter-finals. But can Udinese upset the odds and advance to the last eight?
Lazio picked up an easy 3-0 victory over struggling Salernitana on Saturday, with Ciro Immobile bagging a brace.
That means the Eagles have lost just one of their last five Serie A games, picking up three wins and one draw in the process.
Thanks to their ranking, Lazio have yet to play in the Coppa Italia this season. They enter the competition in the round of 16.
Having qualified for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League by losing just one of their six group games, they will be confident of tasting Coppa Italia glory this season.
On the flip side, Udinese have already played two Coppa Italia clashes to reach this stage of the tournament.
The Bianconeri claimed a straightforward 3-1 victory over Ascoli in the first round before thrashing Crotone 4-0 in the previous round.
Udinese suffered a 2-0 loss to Juventus on Saturday, having suffered a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Atalanta the weekend before.
That means they have only managed to win one of their past eight Serie A matches, recording three draws and four defeats in that time.
Head-to-head: Lazio and Udinese played out a wild 4-4 draw in early December. Lazio had a men sent off, while two Udinese players saw red.
Across all competitions, Udinese have only managed to win one of their previous 15 meetings with Lazio.
Team news: Lazio are sweating over the fitness of Francesco Acerbi, Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro, Tom Basic, Pedro, Andre Anderson and Stefan Radu ahead of Tuesday’s clash.
Meanwhile, Udinese are likely to be without Roberto Pereyra, Marco Silvestri, Jean-Victor Makengo, Lazar Samardzic, Tolgay Arslan and Mato Jajalo.
Given the gulf between these two sides in the Serie A standings, all the signs point towards a comfortable home win here.
Forebet predicts that Lazio will score over 2.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to dispatching Udinese.