There’s a slight chance you already noticed, but the title race in Serie A is evolving into an absolute spectacle!
Just four points separate league leaders Napoli and fifth-placed Lazio – the latter have been one of Italy’s most potent sides in attack.
Lazio have scored 29 goals in 14 Serie A fixtures to date this season, a tally bettered only by Inter (31) and Atalanta (36).
Marco Baroni, who played for 12 clubs and is currently on club number 17 in his managerial career, took over as Lazio manager in June 2024 following back-to-back manager resignations from Igor Tudor and Maurizio Sarri.
Baroni has instilled a clear attacking identity in this Lazio side, and part of that lies within their attacking tactics.
At the time of writing, Lazio are one of the top crossing teams in Serie A and are also one of the most dangerous Italian sides from corners.
This tactical analysis will provide insight into what to expect from Lazio in attack.
It will cover their wide threat and how the full-backs are vital to the setup.
The analysis will also give you a taste of why Lazio can be a major threat from corners before finally diving into some of the stats behind Lazio’s key attacking performers so far this season.
Lazio Crossing Tendency
There is currently absolutely nobody who matches Lazio in Serie A when it comes to consistently delivering crosses into the box.
At the time of writing, Baroni’s side averages 18.37 crosses per 90 – the highest in Serie A.
We can see why Baroni wants his side to utilise that wide threat as much as possible.
This season, they’ve scored five headers in the league (the second-highest tally in Serie A).
Lazio Shot Assists Map
Figure 1 gives us an idea of where Lazio are most dangerous from in terms of creating chances on goal.
As you can see, most of their attacking creativity that has led to a shot or a goal has come from play down the left flank, including a handful of assists from the left side just inside the penalty area.
Interestingly, though, apart from one deep assist, they are yet to register an assist from the right flank despite being far more active on that flank when it comes to crossing.
Lazio Crossing Zones Map
They’ve attempted 119 crosses from the left flank, while from the right, we’ve seen a whopping 160 cross attempts – yet still no assist from the right flank!
That last stat makes it sound worse than it is —Lazio does pose an attacking threat from that flank; they’re actually more accurate with their crossing from that flank than the left.
Stats like those suggest that Lazio could still have another gear to reach in attack—if that is the case, they will be a serious contender for the title!
In the intro, we mentioned the full-backs and their important roles in Lazio’s attacking tactics.
More often than not this season under Baroni coaching style, Lazio have deployed a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 – both formations that suit their wide attacking approach in terms of getting the full-backs involved.
Figure 3 above provides some insight into the instructions set to the full-backs by Baroni.
Important contextual information is that Lazio are primarily a possession-based side, averaging 55% of the ball per game this season, and they often like to play out from the back.
Now, playing out from the back can often include playing through the full-backs during the early stages of a possession phase, but as you can see from the example above, that is not what Baroni’s Lazio are aiming for.
Instead, the full-backs can often be seen high and wide, with the central midfielder(s) dropping deep to assist the central defenders with playing out from the back.
That positioning from the FBs allows them to become involved in higher areas of the pitch, allowing Lazio to overwhelm the opponents with numerical advantages in wide areas.
Figure 4 shows us how the FBs operate in more attacking stages of possession phases, where Lazio are looking to break beyond that midfield block.
Again, it’s a high and wide position from both defenders, and they are given a helping hand from the attacking wingers, who will drop deep and narrow.
That positioning from the wingers serves two very important roles – it adds to Lazio’s central presence, giving them the possibility of building an attack through the middle; it can also create space out wide for the full-backs as the opposition defenders can often be drawn in to mark the wingers, at least momentarily, but that moment can provide a great window of opportunity for Lazio to boost their attack.
The movement of the full-backs can provide versatility and unpredictability to a Lazio attack, just as the analysis example above shows.
Having made the initial pass, the RB makes an underlapping run to support the winger; this also stops the opposition from doubling up on the receiver of that initial pass.
And now, we get to Lazio’s only assist from the right flank this season.
As mentioned earlier, that assist came from a deep cross – the quality of the cross is important, of course, but the overriding tactical element at play is the box presence.
To have four players—three centrally—in the box when the ball is still in a relatively deep area says a lot about what Lazio are striving for.
They are always looking to catch the opponent off guard and inject some pace and intensity into their attacks—this is one way to do it.
There’s that box presence again!
Interestingly, the same positioning is used as in the previous example—three central players and one just off to the side.
It is clever positioning in this particular example that is worth highlighting—the front two attackers running at the Como defence send the opponents into a state of panic since there is no help from the midfield.
Their focus was to mark the front two, leaving the two behind in complete space—clever positioning.
The ball is with LB Nuno Tavares, positioned high and wide before receiving a lofted diagonal pass.
After a moment of controlling the ball, Tavares’ only thought was to deliver a cross into that space at the edge of the box.
This highlights both the tactical side of Lazio’s attack in terms of positioning and movement and the individual application in terms of Nuno Tavares’ ability and know-how to get the ball under control and hit it into a dangerous area.
Lazio Set-Piece Threat
Four goals from corners so far for Lazio, one of the best tallies in Serie A.
Intriguingly, each of those four goals were scored by different players; the same can be said of all of Lazio’s five headed goals this season.
While Lazio has deployed a few interesting corner variations this season, including the occasional short corner, one of the most dangerous elements of their corners is their back post positioning and movement.
The initial far-side presence is but a foreshadowing of Lazio’s back-post threat after the ball has left the boot of the corner taker.
Players standing in a group together before splitting and making separate individual runs during a corner is nothing groundbreaking.
Still, it is something that Lazio have done nicely so far this season.
Whether it’s a corner whipped into the near post to be flicked onto the far post, or a lofted ball toward that far side, Lazio almost always have strong movement and positioning in those moments.
The image above shows a player at the back post ready to nod the ball in if it comes his way.
There is also a teammate a bit deeper to provide support; he can be an attacking threat from that spot but can also shift closer to the goal to double that presence at the back post.
Similarly, Lazio can also be a threat with a near-post presence by lofting the ball toward the far side.
The ball will be headed back to the near post (in relation to the corner), where attacking support is likely situated.
Lazio Key Players In Attack
Most, if not all, elite-level managers will tell you that tactics can only get you so far.
In that case, you need players who can suit the tactics and produce moments of individual brilliance.
Lazio have performed well as an attacking unit, but there are three in particular that we should highlight – three who have provided individual excellence as well as playing an important role on a tactical level for the team.
One of those is centre-forward Valentín Castellanos.
The Argentina international struggled last season in his debut campaign for Lazio, scoring just seven goals and providing just seven assists in 35 Serie A games.
He has already blown those numbers out of the water this season, scoring six and assisting three in 13 games.
This improvement could be due to several factors, including how he suits Baroni’s tactics.
In this tactical analysis, we’ve made quite a point about Lazio’s aerial ability in attack, and Castellanos has not looked out of place in that attack.
Despite being 5’8″ tall, his physical makeup allows him to be more than effective aerially and produce quality on the ground.
The graph above proves just how good he is in the air.
His aerial duels attempted and won are well above average compared to Serie A CFs.
When we narrow the parameters to his aerial performance against Serie A CFs who are also under 6 feet tall, we see his quality shine again – 6.16 aerial duels per 90 is the fourth-highest average, while his win rate of 40.51% is the third-highest.
Castellanos also averages 5.38 touches in the box per 90, the fourth-highest compared to all Serie A CFs – a demonstration of his ability to be constantly involved in attacking phases
Earlier in this tactical analysis, we discussed the importance of the full-backs in Lazio’s attacking tactics, and the graph above only acts as further evidence.
Compared to other Serie A full-backs and wing-backs, Manuel Lazzari is the most frequent dribbler and has a success rate that is far above average.
Nuno Tavares also offers a strong attempt/success combination with his crosses.
Tavares has also provided eight assists already in Serie A this season, showcasing his creative ability.
Nuno Tavares Ball Progression Map
When wide play is a staple of attacking tactics, 1v1 dribbles are to be expected, and Lazio do not buck that trend – they average 23.75 per 90, the fourth-highest average in Serie A at this moment.
One player who greatly contributes to that side of Lazio’s attack is Tavares – we’ve already touched on the impact he has down that left flank for Baroni’s team, and that goes beyond providing crossing quality.
With the third-highest average of dribbles per 90 vs Serie A WB/FBs (6.35) and a well-above-average success rate of 72.2%, Tavares is a real asset for Lazio.
Conclusion
Lazio scraped a UEFA Europa League spot at the end of last season, a campaign blighted by managerial inconsistencies.
Still, Marco Baroni seems to have them back on the right track.
They are among the many title contenders and play with confidence, freedom, and a clear tactical identity, which many teams have had trouble dealing with.
