Serie A 2019/20: Roma vs Lazio – Tactical Analysis

After a stunning run of form, Lazios winning streak was finally broken by the hands of Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. Lazio stumbled at the first opportunity they had to take the second spot away from Inter in Serie A whilst the draw kept Roma in fourth, just ahead of Atalanta.

Despite being armed with plenty of attacking talent, Lazio severely struggled to impose themselves on their Roman opponents in this game and in the end, appeared fortunate to salvage a 1-1 draw away from home. Roma on the other hand, having been on a mixed run of recent form, looked rejuvenated and frankly awesome in this game.

Read our tactical analysis of how Roma dominated a Lazio side that had, up until this point, threatened to insert themselves into this seasons title race. Well examine just how Romas tactics reduced a recently free-scoring Lazio to a measly six shots on goal and our analysis will depict exactly how Roma asserted themselves over their opponents in such a controlling fashion.

Lineups

Joaquin Correa returned to the Lazio side in exchange for Felipe Caicedo as Simone Inzaghi remained true to the 3-5-2 formation that had served them so well up to this point. Lazio would be hoping that the Argentines reintroduction to the side would continue to fuel Ciro Immobile up front, who is leading the race for Serie As top goalscorer, having gone into this game with a record of 23 goals in 19 games.

In the absence of Nicolò Zaniolo after his devastating ACL injury, Lorenzo Pellegrini lined up behind Edin Džeko on paper, however he played more like a traditional 8 throughout the game. Due to this, despite Roma being depicted as lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, it played out more similarly to a modern variant of the 4-3-3.

With both sides not adding to their squads during the winter transfer window, there were no debuts to look forward to in this fixture.

Wing play establishes Romas control

The one concern for Lazio in their current formation has centred around how they defend themselves down the flanks. Previously, they combatted this issue by shifting one of the wider midfielders out to the sides in order to pressure the opposition full-back in possession.

To overcome this defensive solution, Roma committed their fullbacks forward in both under and overlapping scenarios to pin both Lazios wingbacks and potentially their wide central midfield to the backline. This opened up great deals of space in the centre of the field for Romas midfield to dictate the flow and tempo of the game.