Saturday 10th December 2011, 5pm GMT
There were murmurs of doubt about the ability of coach Edy Reja to exceed last season’s achievements when Lazio went on a recent winless three-game run. Lazio silenced the doubters somewhat on Monday evening however when they clinically dispatched with an admittedly poor Novara side.
Reja’s first full season at Lazio saw the Romans qualify for Europa League football, which was a huge improvement from the previous season - most of which was spent flirting with relegation. There was always going to be pressure on Reja to improve on a fifth-place finish however from the moment when Lazio director Claudio Lotito loosened the purse strings during the summer, allowing his coach to bring in Miroslav Klose, Djibril Cisse, Federico Marchetti and Senad Lulic among others.
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| "L" is the message as Rocchi celebrates a goal against Novara |
It was a Lazio veteran who drove his team to a much-needed win on Monday – club captain Tomasso Rocchi, who is closing in on 300 Serie A appearances, scored twice during the 3-0 win. Rocchi missed most of last season through injury, but he has impressed upon his return – so much so that he has earned a starting place and consigned frustrated Frenchman Cisse to the bench.
There’s not much to say about Lecce. Having collected just 8 points from 13 games, they are rooted to the bottom of the table and are guaranteed a place in the relegation battle for the rest of the season. As this game will be coach Serse Cosmi's first at Lecce (he was given the job of replacing the sacked Eusebio Di Francesco), his players may be more fired up than they have been in recent games. Lazio really need to be collecting maximum points from games like this however, and considering their strong form on the road they should do so with ease.
Prediction – Lazio to win – 4pts
Match odds: Lecce 16/5
Draw 23/10
Lazio 5/6
