A new season of sports
Serie A: Lazio vs Bologna
Competition time: 2024-02-18 19:30 Sunday
Analysis of the team's recent situation:
Lazio's league results have been relatively average in recent times, and the team is currently ranked seventh in the league with a record of 11 wins, 4 draws and 8 losses. Lazio's league position has also dropped due to successive challenges from Inter Milan, Napoli and Atalanta, as well as the team's performance in this difficult round of fixtures. However, although Lazio was disappointed in the league, the team has achieved good results in the Champions League, and previously won the promotion first in Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals.
It is worth mentioning that the last Champions League knockout game Lazio fully demonstrated the team's defensive intensity, although Bayern has always firmly controlled the initiative on the field, and with the side raids of Sane and Musiala on the left and right, it is also difficult for Lazio to organize an effective attack. But in fact, Lazio did not leave Bayern with too good offensive opportunities throughout the game, and even Bayern's fourteen attempts at goal did not pose a substantial threat to Lazio's goal at all, and the main defender Upamecano was sent off in the 67th minute of the second half with a red card, so Lazio instead became a more offensive threat party, and finally the team was in the 69th minute of the game, with striker Immobile's penalty kick, in the Bundesliga hegemon Bayern Muni ** to seize the initiative to advance.
Personally, under the training of head coach Sarri for several seasons, Lazio's defensive intensity and counterattacking ability have been greatly improved, and this season's main striker Immobile's competitive state is quite average, but Sarri has rotated players, so that the team's offensive ability will not be greatly affected, and even in the time that Immobile has been absent before, Lazio's offensive ability has increased unabated, and this alone can fully reflect Sarri's coaching ability. It is true that Lazio is still difficult to launch a strong enough impact on the league championship trophy in Serie A, but as long as the team management can give more support to Sarri, I believe that Lazio's league results will inevitably get better and better in the following seasons.
Bologna have been on a hot streak lately, with 11 wins, 9 draws and 4 defeats, placing them in fifth place in the league. Thanks to the good competitive form of the players, Bologna and the fourth place Atalanta in the league after a round of three consecutive wins are now tied for points, if the team can continue the previous momentum of grabbing points, then Bologna does have the ability to compete for the top four places in the league, after all, this team has always been a team known for its attacking ability, as long as the players are in good enough competitive condition, even teams like Inter Milan and Juventus are often difficult to bargain on Bologna.
Of course, Bologna's attacking ability is good, but the shortcomings of this team are also more obvious, players often struggle to take care of defense after putting too much energy into the offensive end, which will also leave the opponent with a chance to counterattack, and the team's recent away combat ability is also relatively average, and it has failed to taste victory in five consecutive away games before. If Bologna are keen to compete for a Champions League place next season, how to improve their ability to play away from home will be a problem that the manager needs to solve as soon as possible.
Match Analysis:
Lazio have already met Bologna once this season, when they were beaten 1-0 away from home, and it was fair to say that Maurizio Sarri's counter-attacking tactics didn't work well in that game. In the last ten meetings, Lazio has won five, drawn two and lost three, occupying a considerable psychological advantage. Although Lazio is ranked lower than Bologna, and the team's physical fitness will inevitably be affected to a certain extent after playing in the Champions League, but due to Bologna's recent away record is really bad, it seems that the main players have been difficult to find the feeling of the game when playing away games, considering that the Lazio players have received a lot of morale boost after the victory over Bayern, I believe that Lazio is very likely to rely on the players' stronger desire to win, and successfully snatch the precious three points in Bologna.
Premier League: Sheffield United vs Brighton
Match time: 2024-02-18 22:00 Sunday
Analysis of the team's recent situation:
Sheffield United are in a difficult situation right now, with three wins, four draws and 17 defeats, ranking at the bottom of the league. Although Sheffield United did achieve quite good results in the Championship last season, and the club has invested a lot of money in reinforcements after promotion to the Premier League. However, due to the fact that the new signings and the old players have not been able to form a tacit understanding, and the team's technical and tactical play is too conservative, so at this stage, Sheffield United and Luton Town outside the safety zone have opened a seven-point point gap, considering that the opponents of Sheffield United in the next few rounds of the league are all high-ranked Premier League powerhouses, I am afraid that the team's relegation prospects are also bleak.
In terms of tactics, Sheffield United have been playing in a 541 formation recently, and it is clear that the manager wants to be based on the defensive side first, and try to keep the goal in front of the net before looking for counter-attacking opportunities. However, Sheffield United's own squad depth is relatively average, and there is a more serious injury wave in the team, such as the main striker McPany, defenders Maxlo and Basham and other players are injured, so Sheffield United's stubborn tactics have not achieved too good results. And the 541 formation itself has quite high requirements for the quality of defensive counterattacks, the center forward players at the forefront of the front line not only need to have the ability to score, but also need to try to create more counterattack space for teammates in the counterattack process, and the team's backfield also needs to have an offensive initiation point, obviously these two elements are not available to the current team, if the Sheffield United coach still insists on following this set of technical and tactical play in the follow-up games, then in addition to relegation, waiting for the team, I'm afraid there is no second way.
Brighton's form has been up and down in recent times, with nine wins, eight draws and seven defeats, and they are ninth in the league. Due to the team's excessive energy in cup competitions such as the Europa League and FA Cup, and the fact that some of the main players have left the team to play for the national team, Brighton have basically dropped out of the race for the top four in the league this season.
Some fans may say that there are still 14 rounds of Premier League games to play, and it is a little premature to talk about the prospect of fighting for the top four. But in fact, Brighton and the fourth place in the league Tottenham Hotspur has opened a 12-point point gap, and the competition for the top four places in the league is not only Brighton's team, such as Villa, Manchester United, Newcastle These fierce rivals, Brighton has no overall strength advantage, plus the follow-up Brighton still need to be distracted in the FA Cup competition, in the case of the league to fight for the top four, perhaps the FA Cup will become Brighton's center of gravity.
Match Analysis:
Sheffield United and Brighton have met twice this season, having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Brighton & Hove Albion at a 2-5 deficit away from Sheffield United. In the last ten meetings, Sheffield United has won four, drawn four and lost two, occupying a considerable psychological advantage. Although it seems that Sheffield United's record is not ugly, in fact, Brighton's overall strength is still much stronger than their opponents, and since all the players who participated in the national team have returned, it can be said that Brighton's attacking ability has returned to normal at this stage. It's just that Sheffield United and Brighton have a deep relationship after all, and Brighton doesn't actually have much need for league points at this stage, the opponent Sheffield United needs to go all out in every game, considering that there is a gap between the two teams' fighting spirit, and Sheffield United's stubborn tactics can play a certain role in restraining Brighton without a high striker, I believe that although it is difficult for Sheffield United to grab three points on Brighton, it should not be a problem to protect the home field with strict defense.