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Club football returns to the fold with another round of matches this week as Lazio lock horns with Unai Emery's Aston Villa side in an interesting clash at the Bescto Stadium in Walsall on Thursday.
Aston Villa vs Lazio Preview
Lazio finished in second place in the Serie A standings last season and have shown tremendous improvement over the past year. The Biancocelesti eased past Bravo by a comfortable 2-0 margin in their previous game and will look to achieve a similar result this week.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, secured a seventh-place finish in the Premier League table last season and have grown in stature under Unai Emery so far. The home side played out a 3-3 draw against Brentford last week and will need to step up to the plate in this match.
Aston Villa vs Lazio Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Aston Villa have never played an official game against Lazio and will need to adapt to a new opponent going into the match this week.
- Aston Villa have conceded at least one goal in each of their last six matches in the Premier League, with their previous clean sheet coming in a 3-0 victory against Newcastle United.
- Aston Villa have been unbeaten in all four of their matches on their pre-season tour but have been held to a draw in three of these four games.
- Lazio conceded only 30 goals in their 38 matches in the Serie A last season - only Napoli had a better defensive record over the course of the competition.
- Aston Villa have been a prolific force on their pre-season tour so far and have scored an impressive total of nine goals in their four such games this summer.
Aston Villa vs Lazio Prediction
Lazio have grown into a formidable force under Maurizio Sarri and will look to end their pre-season tour on a positive note. Pedro and Felipe Anderson have been in excellent form over the past month and will look to add to their goal tallies in this match.
Aston Villa have also made a considerable amount of progress since the turn of the year and have excellent players in their ranks. Lazio are a seasoned European force, however, and should be able to win this game.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-3 Lazio
Aston Villa vs Lazio Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Lazio
Tip 2: Game to have over 2.5 goals - Yes
Tip 3: Aston Villa to score first - Yes
Tip 4: Pedro to score - Yes
