Match Preview :

Lazio will be looking to bounce back from their dissappointment last week when they welcome Novara on Monday Night Football to the Stadio Olimpico.

Lazio were considered as title contenders at the beginning of Serie A, but now Lazio manager Edy Reja is feeling the pressure.

Lazio only managed one point from the last two games and failed to score a single goal it can thus be said that their 0-0 away to Napoli was a decent result, but the 1-0 home defeat to Juventus effectively killed off title hopes. And to make matters worse, a goalless draw against Romanians Vaslui in the Europa League means qualification is out of their hands now.

Djibril Cissè has failed to score again and has come under fire from the coach. We could see Cissè be dropped in favour of Tommaso Rocchi, who’ll join Miroslav Klose and Hernanes in the Monday night kick-off. The hosts are missing the likes of Cristian Brocchi, Andre Dias, Libor Kozak, Stefano Mauri, Javier Garrido, Francelino Matuzalem and Stephen Makinwa due to injuries.

Novara on the other hand managed a win finally in their last match! They were without a win since beating Inter 3-1 on September 20, they fought back to upset Parma 2-1 and will hope that is for better things to come. It was a much needed win with three points as previously they had previously managed just three points from the preceding eight games.

The visitors biggest problem remains scoring goals. That is because in only on four occasions they have scored more than one goal in a single game. Giuseppe Gemiti is suspended, joining the injured Massimo Paci, Taka Morimoto, Andrea Lisuzzo and possibly also Paolo Hernan Dellafiore and Alex Pinardi on the sidelines. They will not have Riccardo Meggiorini after his three match ban was rejected earlier in the week.

The good news is that Goalkeeper Samir Ujkani should make his Serie A comeback after breaking his jaw, nose and losing four teeth in a horrific accidental collision with teammate Michel Morganella on October 16. He tested and played out using the new protective mask during the midweek Coppa Italia 3-2 victory over Catania.

Watch out for Miroslav Klose to get a goal in this match. The statistics have shown that when he is absent, they find it hard to score goals.

For the record, Novara have only ever beaten Lazio away from home once in 17 official attempts. That was a 3-1 Serie A triumph on May 4 1952, along with 12 defeats and four draws in all competition.

Novara will want to forget the 1973 Coppa Italia match that ended 6-0.

Possible lineups

Lazio : Marchetti; Konko, Diakitè, Biava, Radu; Gonzalez, Ledesma, Lulic; Hernanes; Klose, Rocchi

Novara : Ujkani; Morganella, Centurioni, Ludi, Garcia; Porcari, Radovanovic, Rigoni; Mazzarani; Granoche, Rubino

Prediction :

Take Lazio and give the 1 1/4 AH

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Lazio 2-0 Novara

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Lazio to win.

HANDICAP BETTING :

Main Bet:
Take Lazio -1 1/4 AH to win by a couple of goals.