Sporting Braga vs Lazio

Europa League pacesetters Lazio take a trip to Estádio Municipal de Braga to take on top-24 hopefuls Sporting Braga.

Three successive domestic victories on either side of a matchday-seven defeat to Royale Union Saint-Gilloise should keep the morale high around the Braga camp, even though their hopes of qualifying for the Europa League playoffs are in tatters. Indeed, back-to-back league-phase defeats have demoted Braga outside the top 24, two points beneath 24th-placed Besiktas, meaning a win against table-topping Lazio is imperative. That could be easier said than done, considering they’ve lost their last three home matches against Italian visitors. On the bright side, Carlos Carvalhal’s men have won both competitive home outings in January after leading 2-0 at halftime, including a 3-0 rout of TSG Hoffenheim in this competition. Either way, fans in attendance should be in for a treat, given Braga’s last eight home games have produced 3+ goals.

As for Lazio, a 3-1 home win against Real Sociedad last week made them the only team to secure automatic last-16 qualification with a game to spare. Indeed, Marco Baroni’s men enter matchday eight as the only team in the Europa League yet to lose this season (W6, D1), with the only blemish coming in a 0-0 home draw against Ludogorets in round five. ‘I Biancocelesti’ have been dominant on the road, winning all three Europa League away games this term via an aggregate score of 8-1. With each win yielding a multi-goal margin, Lazio should be confident of bouncing back from a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Serie A rivals Fiorentina at the weekend.