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Lazio vs Sporting Lisbon at Stadio Olimpico

sport live europa league bettingLazio will face leaders Sporting Lisbon in Europa League Group D, knowing that a win may not be enough to qualify for the next stage.

A win will therefore not be enough if Vaslui also secure a victory at bottom side FC Zurich in Wednesday's other fixture.

The Italians are third in the group, six points behind their Portuguese opponents and level on points with second-placed Vaslui with an inferior head-to-head record.

"We must win as only with that result can we have any hope of qualifying,'' Lazio coach Edy Reja said.

"We will keep an eye on Vaslui although I don't expect any favours from anyone.

"I will give space to those that have played less, but I nevertheless expect from my players a balanced and intelligent performance.

"In order to beat Sporting we need to play at a high tempo, with speed and aggressiveness. If we do that and play as we know how, in the end we will be triumphant.''

Lazio go into the encounter at the Stadio Olimpico on the back of Saturday's 3-2 triumph at Lecce which saw them climb to fourth in Serie A.

The Romans, who have yet to lose at home in European competition, will be without goalkeeper Federico Marchetti, who sustained a muscular injury at the weekend and will be sidelined for a month.

Albano Bizzarri is set to replace Marchetti in goal.

Sporting beat Lazio 2-1 back in September and have already secured their place in the knockout round.

However, coach Domingo Paciencia has demanded his players produce a strong finish to the group stages.

"We have three more games left to play until the Christmas break, including the match at Lazio,'' he said.

"I want three victories to end the year in the best possible way.''

Paciencia has included five players from the reserves in his travelling squad to Italy.

The Portuguese side welcome back defender Stijn Schaars, who missed last weekend's 1-0 triumph over Nacional through suspension.

Paciencia will be without the services of Jeffren, Marat Izmailov, Alberto Rodriguez, Fabian Rinaudo and Matias Fernandez, who are all out injured.

Watch Europa League Lazio vs Sporting Lisbon free sport live.