Serie A: LAZIO-SAMPDORIA, Sunday, 18-10-09

This could prove to be a real though match up for us, but we are capable of beating them if we play to the best of our abilities. Hopefully we can manage atleast one point.

I think that Sampdoria is too tough for us at the moment. I`m hoping but i`m afraid that`s the only thing that will remain. Nontheless...FORZA LAZIO

I don't think Sampdoria is as good as the rest of you seem to think. They have like us and Udinese last season gotten a really great start, but it's still "just" Sampdoria.

We should go for all the points here!

We have a good record against Samp at home, 3 points is more than possible.

I am optimistic because this is usually a fixture we do well at.... last season we also won at the Olimpico

Although we do have to suffer if we can't mark Cassano properly...

I hope bala realizes Foggia is a starter..sometime this season

One hell of a match which I really look forward to.

This will be a true sign of where we stand in comparison to last year. Samp has exploded this year, displaying impressive games all the time. Last year we were equal to them in the league, and we defeated them in the Final. Lets see where we stand now...

one good think is that is a break until 18.10.09,we realy need that,enough time for us to prepared for this game,hope that we will win(why not to score our 3000 goal in our field)

I have a strange sense of confidence after seeing us battle out for a point away to Fiorentina, who IMO are on par with Samp this season. At home, a point would be a minimum. 3 points is not totally out of the question.

FORZA LAZIO!

when we start fearing teams of our level at home .. that makes me scared. instead the players should be fired up to show their worth. hope they do it! ( i hate caps lock :) )

THe game is in one week, till then FORZA LAZIO

I read that ESPN UK are showing this match,so if you live in the R.O.I. & UK you can catch this one on the telly!!!

Mihajlovic has tipped ‘Fantantonio’ to steal the show when Samp visit the Olimpico on Sunday. He has also considered Lazio's rebels, stating that Goran Pandev is integral to the Rome-based side..

Joint Serie A leaders Sampdoria travel to Rome to take on Lazio this weekend and Sinisa Mihajlovic has no doubt that Samp ace Antonio Cassano will overshadow Aquile counterpart Mauro Zarate.

“I would definitely pick Cassano [ahead of Zarate],” the former Blucerchiati and Biancocelesti midfielder told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I know him and he is a nice lad. Of course, Zarate is strong too. But Cassano is more decisive and really makes the difference on the pitch.”

But Italy coach Marcello Lippi seems to disagree, and the Serbian added, “If I were the national team manager, I would call Cassano. But Lippi is the word; he has already won a World Cup - how can you criticise him?”

The Doriani have exceeded all expectations so far this term. Meanwhile, Lazio are struggling without 'rebel' duo Goran Pandev and Cristian Ledesma.

“I hope Samp can finish the season among the top four, but I doubt it,” Mihajlovic noted.

“As for Lazio, I think [Roberto] Baronio is stronger than Ledesma, but there are no other players like Pandev in the Biancocelesti squad. Lazio would be stronger if he played.”

Interesting comments from Sinisa.

Much like last season's Coppa Italia finale, this will be billed as Cassano v Zarate.

These kind of comments should fire up Maurito; he did serious damage against them last season and he will probably fancy his chances to score this weekend. For me, our major problem in recent games is Zarate's loss of confidence. He is declining goalscoring opportunities and from where I'm sitting, he is too self-conscious; he really is too concerned now about being unselfish.

Ballardini seems to be putting him through his paces and I think the Mauro of old is dead and gone but at some point, a true star is likely to emerge and this is the kind of game where it may happen.

Samp are strong, very strong and I think they could easily be in line for a Top 6 placing but the international break will do us a lot of good and I somewhat expect three points.

Forza Lazio!

Amazing how few comments there has been regarding this game Lol!

Will be a tough one. But i cant see Samp beating us, a win here would do wonders for us ahead of what is a really key Europa League game against Villareal on Thursday.

Just watch the people roll in just before the game, I couldn't wait for this game, 2 weeks is too long.

Stream situation looks good, bet365 is showing which is a good sign for other streams to come through as well.

We're fielding the IMO best available formation although we don't have Matuzalem. Doria will be looking for revenge no matter what is said in the papers, we all know how much the defeat hurt them.

Tough match, no expectations. Forza Lazio!!

Have been waiting for this one a bit too long. i dislike the NT-breaks, but now we are back in action and I hope the guys will not let us down today.

I hope the break has given the boys a good rest, some key players really needed this. I think this game will show us were we stand quality-wise. Sampdoria is a strong side that has managed to develop nicely over the summer, and considering how close we were in the league last year, and that we managed to beat them in a dramatic Coppa final, it will be a good indicator on our quality.

I expect a win, even if I am sure it will be a tough one. Hope Muslera has enjoyed his Uruguay games, and that he steps up - Samp has a lethal attack. We need these three points...

Total blackout and again undeserving 0-1, fuck it all to hell

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woops there it is

Does anyone understood why Mauri played 90 mins? Jesus Christ...................

Kurama_SSLazio wrote:

Does anyone understood why Mauri played 90 mins? Jesus Christ...................

Yes. Did you even watch the game?

Mauri was pretty decent today I thought.

Kurama_SSLazio wrote:

Does anyone understood why Mauri played 90 mins? Jesus Christ...................

To be fair he could easily have had two assists if Rocchi was less wasteful, and he started the attack that led to the goal by winning a header.The question should be why Baronio gets to play long enough to get sent off and why is Foggia on the bench all game, very cowardly, IMO.

Damn, we really should have won that one, or at least scored more than one goal. So many chances wasted...Terrible ref, btw, screwed up both teams many times but Baronio's second yellow wasn't even a foul. We have never scored more than one goal in a game in Serie A this season, apart from that bogus penalty against Chievo, this is extremely worrying because with our defence we can rarely keep a clean sheet and end up with losses or not really helpful draws. Mauri made some nice almost-assists for Rocchi, matuzalem is class and Brocchi even showed some dribbling skills apart from improving our midfield overall but with this wastefulness we will be midtable at most which is too bad.

Now, to be fair, Sampdoria worked extremely hard and could have well beaten us today had they not had some misses of their own and the ref not giving them a penalty but when you have like a dozen chances and only score one you suck offensively, period. We need to improve our scoring. And Ballardini needs to play Foggia more, our right wing was a woefully underused venue of attack when he and Lichti were missing.

We needed three points badly, and we had a great chance taking it today. A draw is not a disaster, but we could and should have won it...

Kurama_SSLazio wrote:

Does anyone understood why Mauri played 90 mins? Jesus Christ...................

Yes , he was our best player.
With great contribution for the first goal. With two crucial passes to Rocchi , which the second wasted.And he was very , very close to score the winning goal.Don't forget his good effort for the volley , but this was and is very difficult execution...

For the match I don't see much for deliberation, we could have won this but we didn't.