Torino host Lazio on Sunday afternoon at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin. Torino will look back on a season in which European qualification was in their fingertips but just slipped away.
While Torino will sit at home on Thursday night’s next season, Lazio will once again play in the Europa League. The Eagles lifted the Coppa Italia earlier this month with a 2-0 win over Atalanta. A Lazio win on Sunday would take them above Torino in the final Serie A standings.
Walter Mazzarri’s Torino are undefeated in five of their last six matches. Their 4-1 loss to Empoli last weekend was Torino’s downfall as they now sit three points behind Roma and four goals behind in goal difference.
The good news for Torino is they secured three wins in their last six matches. Torino have won back to back home games outscoring opponents 5-2.
Striker Andrea Belotti continues to be their main source of goals for Il Toro. The Italian has bagged 15 scores in all competitions with five coming from the penalty spot. Forward Iago Falque has added a further five while summer transfer signing Simone Zaza has been a disappointment with just four goals.
Belotti could finally be on his way out of Torino in the summer. West Ham tried to land him but failed. Now, Real Madrid are said to be after the goal scorer.
Lazio have their own high-profile goal getter. Ciro Immobile has tallied 18 goals in all competitions. Immobile is Lazio’s undisputed leader, but the Italian hitman has plenty of capable goal scorers around him. Felipe Caicedo has scored nine times for the Biancocelesti.
When the two Italian clubs met in December the fixture ended in a 1-1 stalemate. Belotti found the back of the net for Torino courtesy of a penalty just before halftime. Lazio midfielder Serge Milinkovic-Savic levelled the score just after the hour-mark.
The match was fiery as nine yellow cards and two red cards were handed out during the 90-minute match.
Sunday’s season finale between Torino and Lazio is destined to follow a similar path. The two sides should put to bed the 2018-19 season with another stalemate finish. Torino have played 22 matches that have finished with under 2.5 goals this season.
Lazio have experienced 19 games that have finished with under 2.5 goals scored. Thirteen of those matches were played away from Rome.
The Serie A season should end for both sides much like their first meeting of the season. Expect a score draw with under 2.5 goals tallied