One of the most attractive ties in the last-16 stage of the Europa Conference League will get underway on Tuesday evening, with Lazio hosting AZ Alkmaar for the first leg of their contest.
Lazio are currently second in the Serie A table and will enter this match off the back of a morale-boosting 1-0 win over the runaway leaders Napoli, while AZ are second in the Eredivisie table behind Feyenoord.
Match preview
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Lazio became just the second team to beat Napoli in Serie A this season when they recorded a 1-0 victory over the leaders on Friday night; Matias Vecino netted the only goal of the contest in the 67th minute, and the result moved the White and Sky Blues into second spot in the table.
Maurizio Sarri's side are eyeing their first top-four finish in Serie A since 2020, but they are also chasing success in the Europa Conference League and will fancy their chances of making a big impression.
Lazio finished third in their Europa League group, which saw them drop down to the Europa Conference League playoffs, and they overcame CFR Cluj 1-0 on aggregate in order to book their spot in the round of 16.
This is not the European competition that the Italian giants will want to be competing in this season, but it provides the opportunity to win some major silverware, and the home team will bring a five-game unbeaten run into this match, which has included four victories.
Lazio won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1998-99, while they also lifted the UEFA Super Cup in 1999, but the club will be bidding to return to the Champions League for next season.
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AZ, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 victory over Vitesse in the Eredivisie on Friday, with Jesper Karlsson netting the only goal of the contest.
The result left the Alkmaar giants in second position in the table, five points behind leaders Feyenoord, but their focus has now been switched to the Europa Conference League.
Pascal Jansen's side finished top of Group E in the last round of the competition, winning five of their six matches, to secure their position in the round of 16.
AZ have been victorious in three of their five away matches in the Europa Conference League and will be determined to secure a positive result on Tuesday ahead of the return fixture on March 16.
The Dutch outfit have never won a European trophy, with their best-ever performance in a major competition coming back in 1981, when they reached the final of the UEFA Cup, losing to Ipswich Town.
Team News
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Lazio's squad is in excellent shape heading into this match, with Sarri expected to have a full complement.
There were no injuries against Napoli on Friday, and it would not be a shock to see the same starting XI take to the field for the first leg of their last-16 European contest.
Pedro is perhaps the player pushing hardest to come into the side, with Felipe Anderson's spot in doubt, but Ciro Immobile will once again continue at the tip of the attack for the in-form Italian team.
AZ, though, have a number of injury problems, with Maxim Dekker, Zinho Vanheusden, Riechedly Bazoer, Dani de Wit, Sam Beukema, Sem Westerveld and Bruno Martins Indi are likely to miss out.
The Dutch outfit have no fresh concerns from their victory over Vitesse last time out, so Jansen could decide to select the same team in a 4-3-3 formation.
Vangelis Pavlidis has been in excellent form for AZ this season, scoring 17 goals in all competitions, and the 24-year-old will again lead the line for the visitors.
Lazio possible starting lineup:
Provedel; Marusic, Patric, Romagnoli, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Vecino, Alberto; Anderson, Immobile, Zaccagni
AZ Alkmaar possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Sugawara, Goes, Hatzidiakos, Kerkez; Reijnders, Mihailovic, Mijnans; Odgaard, Pavlidis, Karlsson
We say: Lazio 2-0 AZ Alkmaar
AZ will be aware of the size of the challenge facing them in this tie, and while we are expecting it to be close overall, Lazio are likely to have too much for their opponents in the first leg of their encounter. As a result, we are backing a 2-0 success for Sarri's team on Tuesday night.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
