Lazio vs Fiorentina: preview

After a great victory against Cremonese that took them out of last place, the Viola face a tougher test in the capital against Lazio. Ninth-place Aquile are winless in three straight games (draws against Cremonese and at Udinese, then a home loss to Napoli on Sunday) and are dealing with their own chaos, mainly due to Maurizio Sarri’s ongoing dispute with ownership over the club’s transfer policy along with a series of absences.

The match will be played on Wednesday, January 7, 2026in 19:45 GMT/2:45 pm EST at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. It will be cold in the city, but it shouldn’t reach freezing point, although the wind might make it feel that way. Expect plenty of shots of people in the dugout or in the stands watching from deep in the hoods of their heavy coats.

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Three things to keep in mind

1. Which winger plays on which side?

I assume Manor Solomon will have his first start here with Paolo Vanoli’s new 4-3-3. The question is whether he plays on the left, where Albert Guðmundsson has been in recent weeks, or on the right. Initially, Solomon came in on the right wing, but he didn’t have much of an impact there. His cross that led to Moise Kean’s spectacular winning goal came from the left.

It might be less about who is best suited to play on the left and more about who is least prepared to play on the right. Guðmundsson played a lot on the right throughout his career, but not much since his time at AZ. Three managers have struggled to get good performances out of him, so leaving him on the left, where he could build some continuity, will likely outweigh any improvement Solomon provides on that side. Either way, Paolo Vanoli at least has a simple in-game adjustment available by swapping the two as circumstances warrant.

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It’s a bit of an enigma because the defensive infrastructure is designed to cover Guðmundsson’s weaknesses on the left wing. Having him and Robin Gosens on that side is a heartbreaking prospect, but having him on the right isn’t much better; Vanoli liked to bend the full-backs on that side to achieve some balance. I guess for now we’ll see Albert on the left, which will give Vanoli an easy fit in the game, but he could jump in either direction.

2. Defend large areas

This links to the previous point. Fiorentina didn’t look strong at all this year, regardless of personnel or tactics, but swapping a full-back like Fabiano Parisi or Niccolò Fortini for a pure attacker like Solomon will have repercussions all the way back. The main theme is Robin Gosens, whose main impact is to keep going. Luca Ranieri’s defensive solidity provides cover for a winger up front, while Goose is primarily a box presence at this point rather than someone you want 1v1 against opposing wingers.

Guðmundsson and Gosens sharing the left is an open invitation to Lazio to cook on that side, but I am also worried about the right. Dodô’s physical limitations mean he is vulnerable defensively, which Vanoli has mitigated by having another full-back (Fabiano Parisi or Niccolò Fortini) ahead of him. Solomon won’t offer the same defensive coverage. That means the midfielders will have to work very hard, tasked with blocking the middle against Sarri’s quick passes but also coming out wide to help the full-backs.

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That tilts the midfield because Cher Ndour is prepared to run so much, but Rolando Mandragora is not. A 4-2-3-1 with Guðmundsson as tenth and Parisi/Fortini on the right could be a solution, but it would leave Mandrake out. Basically, Vanoli tries to solve a puzzle with pieces that don’t actually connect. He’ll stick with this 4-3-3 for now and hope everyone finds some way to make it work, but it all looks pretty fragile, which I suppose is par for the course for Fiorentina.

3. Sarri plugging leaks

Lazio has quite a few absences to deal with. Center backs Samuel Gigot and Patric are injured. Forwards Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Boulaye Dia are in the AFCON. Adam Marušić and Tijjani Noslin are suspended. Taty Castellanos has just been sold to West Ham and Matteo Guendouzi could be on his way to Fenerbahçe. Maurizio Sarri runs like a Loony Tunes character putting buckets under a leaky roof and desperately looking up when another tile falls from the roof.

I assume he will choose Pedro as the 9 in his 4-3-3, but it could also be Matteo Cancellieri or Mattia Zaccagni. These are all wingers of some variety, so I would expect them to move around, either going deeper or opening up rather than battling with Fiorentina’s centre-backs. The Viola defense will need to communicate well to pass those marking tasks, but could do well by winning long balls, preventing Lazio from breaking out. In Sarri’s system, this might be less of a problem than for other managers, but don’t expect his team to play with their usual fluidity.

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Possible alignments

Ted’s Memorial Blind Guessing Department

Lazio is the favorite, but not as much as one would expect. Sure, Aquile are mired in a miniature crisis, but Fiorentina are mired in a longer, worse crisis and have yet to win on the road in Serie A. If I were a betting man, I’d put a decent amount of money on the hosts here. It would also be hitting the table under: Lazio has not scored more than one goal in a game since November and Fiorentina achieved the feat only three times all year. It’s probably a race to a goal, and if either side scores twice, that should settle the matter.

As I’m not a betting man, I reckon this was a really miserable 0-1 win for the visitors. As impossible as it may seem, the Viola may have better vibes right now and also not have most of an absent XI for various reasons. I will call on Kean to make two games in a row with a goal, this time going back and finishing, but I also expect a game with quite little quality. Keep an eye on refereeing, too: Simone Sozza averaged one penalty or red card per game this year in Serie A, including a second yellow for Mattia Viti in the match against Inter Milan earlier this year.

Viola Force!