Lazio buoyed by lofty perch in Serie A

Lazio have been in buoyant mood in the last two weeks after their unexpectedly bright start to the league season. The Rome side are two points clear at the top having won four, drawn one and lost one in their opening six games of the campaign.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for a cash-strapped club forced to sell its best players, with full-back Aleksandar Kolarov joining Manchester City and striker Goran Pandev leaving for Inter earlier this year.

Their flying start has left club president Claudio Lotito extolling the virtues of coach Edy Reja.

“He’s a wonderful person with incredible inner strength, but most of all he’s a great leader in the changing room,” he said.

Lotito’s gratitude may be partly explained by the president’s unpopularity among the club’s fans, who regularly protested against him and the team last year, with some even invading the training complex and forcing players to practise indoors on one occasion.

There is now new-found optimism within the camp, not least after midfielder Stefano Mauri’s recent Italy recall, and the 30-year-old believes the good times are on their way back.

“We’ve done well in these six matches; even in the defeat in Genoa (a 2-0 loss to Sampdoria on the season’s opening day) we played well,” he said.

“But we’ve not done much so far, there’s only been six matches, we’ll see where we are halfway through the season.

“It’s a strange league, which often happens after the World Cup. But soon the big teams will come back to the top.

“I’m saying only that we can go far if we continue to make sacrifices and work hard, as we’ve been doing so far. We knew what the problems were and we’ve resolved them.”

Lazio travel to mid-table Bari in tomorrow’s late game in a match that is anything other than straightforward, given that the southerners are unbeaten at home.

Should Lazio slip up, three teams sit two points behind and ready to take advantage: the Milan neighbours and Napoli.

Champions Inter are in disarray due to an injury crisis that leaves them with only two fit central midfielders in Dejan Stankovic and rebel Sulley Muntari.

Ghanaian Muntari stormed out of the ground two weeks ago when he didn’t even make the bench and he has hardly featured this season, but he is needed now.

Inter are also likely to be boosted by the return from injury of captain Javier Zanetti, who could play in midfield, but there are still doubts over forwards Diego Milito, Pandev and Jonathan Biabiany.

These problems are worrying Zanetti, particularly ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League visit of Tottenham.

“We’ve got many injuries and the important thing is that my team-mates get better quickly,” he said.

Inter travel to Cagliari, while Milan host fifth-placed Chievo, who mathematically could go top if they won. Chievo have win both their away games this season, 3-1 against Genoa and Napoli.

Milan, however, are far more likely to mount a sustained assault on the silverware and their Brazilian forward Robinho says he’s been encouraged by the form of their rivals.

“When I arrived here I spoke of winning the league and Champions League, that’s normal,” he said.

“But having seen our rivals live and on television I’m more convinced than ever that we can win the league.”

Napoli, the other team in the running to go top this weekend, travel to Catania.

Serie A

Playing today
Milan vs Chievo- 18.00
Roma vs Genoa - 20.45

Tomorrow – 15.00
Bari vs Lazio - 20.45
Brescia vs Udinese
Cagliari vs Inter - 12.30
Catania vs Napoli
Cesena vs Parma
Juventus vs Lecce
Palermo vs Bologna
Sampdoria vs Fiorentina

Standings: Lazio 13; Inter, Napoli, Milan 11; Chievo 10; Brescia 9; Juventus, Palermo, Catania, Genoa, Bari, Lecce 8; Cagliari, Sampdoria, Bologna, Cesena 7; Fiorentina, Parma, Roma 5; Udinese 4.

Serie B

Playing today – 15.00
Atalanta vs Ascoli
Crotone vs Piacenza
Frosinone vs Modena
Livorno vs Torino
Pescara vs Grosseto
Portogruaro vs Varese
Sassuolo vs Novara
Triestina vs Reggina
Vicenza vs AlbinoLeffe

Monday
Padova vs Cittadella - 19.00
Empoli vs Siena - 21.00

Leading standings: Siena 21; Novara 19; Reggina 17; Atalanta, Empoli 15; Crotone 14; Padova, Livorno, Vicenza, Torino 13; Triestina, Pescara 12.