Juventus' hopes of clinching the Coppa Italia are still very much alive after their midweek draw with Inter Milan in the first-leg fixture. They now seat at the seventh position on the Serie A table eleven points behind their opponents and seven points adrift from the UEFA Champions League places. The midweek Copa Italia game was not short of any drama as Romelu Lukaku was sent off for shouting at the home fans having received racist abuse. Cuadrado and Inter captain Samir Handanovic were both dismissed shortly after the Lukaku incident for a spat following the final whistle. The fall-out spilled over into scuffles inside the Allianz Stadium tunnel. Juventus will be looking forward to restoring order after such an ugly ending in an already grim game by defeating Lazio at Stadio Olimpico and closing the gap to their capital-city rivals to eight points.

The Bianconeri were severely affected in the first half of the season when they were hit by a 15-point deduction and now they have won three straight league games recently which keeps them within touching distance of the division's top six but they cannot afford to let the place slacken yet. They have won eight of their last ten games and therefore confidence should be high as they face Lazio in tomorrow's game. They also have an important European game next week as they meet Portuguese powerhouse Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. 

Lazio boast of Italy's best defensive record as they have kept 17 clean sheets which is the most of any Italian team this season. They have only considered 19 league goals this season. Qualification for Europe's top club competition is almost in sight after an excellent run of form recently and they look forward into participating in the Champions League next season. Last month's much-needed win in the Derby della Capitale took Lazio clear of the Milan clubs and arch-rivals Roma in the standings. However, the defeat to AZ Alkmaar meant that they were the only Italian club to have been knocked out of Europe competitions so far. It is worth noting, however, that they are one of the only three teams to have beaten Napoli in the Serie this season. Lazio have additionally only suffered one loss in their recent 12 fixtures played and therefore they have little to fear from the visit by Juventus.