Lazio v Atletico Madrid Betting Tips [19 September 2023]

Group E in the 2023/24 Champions League campaign gets started with Serie A runners-up Lazio hosting La Liga bronze medalists Atletico Madrid. These two sides will be expecting to book a spot in the final 16 with Feyenoord and Celtic filling out the rest of the group. Lazio impressed last season to lock up their highest finish since being crowned champions in 1999/00. They showed remarkable consistency regardless of the venue as they finished with the exact same home and away record of 11 wins, four draws and four defeats. However, Maurizio Sarri’s men have stumbled out of the gates in the new season. Lazio have won just once while suffering three defeats in the first four Serie A fixtures. Despite a morale boosting 2-1 away win over the defending champions in matchday three, Lazio would fall to Juventus 3-1 in their most recent outing. Their slow start has the bookmakers listing the hosts as slight underdogs for this Champions League clash.

Atletico Madrid have experienced a decent start to the new campaign. They’ve picked up two wins and a draw while suffering a solitary defeat in the first four league fixtures. Los Colchoneros were beaten 3-0 away from home by Valencia on the weekend, ending their unbeaten start. It was a disappointing result given the momentum that Diego Simeone’s men seemed to be building. Prior to the loss, Atletico blasted seven goals past Rayo Vallecano in matchday three. They were ruthless in front of goal as the team created seven clear cut scoring chances along with 14 shots in the opposition penalty area. Atleti travelled well last season in La Liga but struggled immensely in the Champions League. The visitors lost all three of their away group stage games in the 2022/23 edition which led to a fourth-place finish and an early exit.

The defensive problems for Lazio are surprising given their stellar record last season. The Biancoceleste conceded the second-fewest goals in the prior Serie A campaign at 30. They’ve already given up close to 25% of that amount in just the first four matches. Atletico have put up some mixed away results but have good underlying numbers. This is in large part down to their 7-0 beatdown of Rayo Vallecano but it shows what a dangerous attacking unit Simeone possesses. Atletico are clearly the team in the better form and we’ll back them to kick things off with three points. Our Lazio vs Atletico Madrid prediction is Atletico draw no bet.