There is a very real possibility that this is the year which sees the end of Juventus' streak of seven consecutive Serie A titles. The most obvious challengers to the title are Inter Milan who have revamped their squad, spent heavily and yet prudently, and reaped the rewards accordingly.
However, there is another team which not many would have expected to be in the title race at this point of the season. This is especially true because this is a team which has not been close to winning the league for many years and which does not have any elite-level superstar talent. Despite this fact, they might just claim the Scudetto if everything breaks the right way; as of right now, they are just five points behind league leaders Juve and have played one game fewer.
The latest edition of the Derby della Capitale saw Roma and Lazio split the points in a 1-1 draw. Edin Džeko opened the scoring for Roma, but Francesco Acerbi's equalizer ensured that Lazio would not leave empty-handed.
Lazio's performance was typical of their season thus far: unconventional and yet tenacious and gritty. Fielding a 3-5-2 formation, they had far less possession as well as far fewer shots and corner kicks than their crosstown rivals. In this case, though, it did not seem to be a case of being outplayed. The Biancocelesti came in with the strategy of soaking up Roma's attacking pressure and generally neutralizing it by restricting Roma to low-quality chances; out of Roma's 22 shots, only three were on target.
While it may be the case that Lazio do not necessarily have the one player who is on that level that can change everything for the better for any team, it must nevertheless be said that this is a team which has been intelligently and thoughtfully constructed and in which all the pieces fit perfectly. The club's core players including Ciro Immobile, Sergej Milinković-Savić, Senad Lulić, Lucas Leiva, and Joaquín Correa have combined seamlessly thus far.
Interestingly, this team has not changed much from last season's iteration. Their only new signing who has played much has been Manuel Lazzari, while Portuguese duo Bruno Jordão and Pedro Neto, who both left for Wolverhampton Wanderers, barely featured at all last season.
Furthermore, although I did mention that Lazio do not have a true superstar on their roster, they very well might soon. At just 24 years old, Milinković-Savić appears to have a tremendously bright future with a very high ceiling. The Serbian midfielder has repeatedly been linked with transfers to some of Europe's leading clubs; such transfer rumours are evidence of just how highly he is regarded. With Cristiano Ronaldo clearly on the decline, it is entirely possible that should Milinković-Savić choose to remain in Serie A, whether with Lazio or another Italian club, he could be one of the five best players in the league as soon as next season.
Lazio have also gained much from well-judged redistribution of playing time. The additional opportunities which have been granted to the likes of Luiz Felipe and Correa, who were players who were not certain starters just one season ago, have been of much benefit to them and the club. Correa's positional versatility which is evidenced by his ability to play as a number 10, a winger, or a centre-forward has been a particular bonus for Lazio; it opens up more tactical options whenever he is on the pitch. Backup striker Felipe Caicedo is simply not capable of providing this multi-positional threat; thus, it is no surprise that as Correa's playing time has increased and Caicedo's has declined, Lazio's form has improved in tandem.
The last time Lazio won Serie A was in 2000. In that year, Lazio had an incredibly stacked team coached by Sven-Göran Eriksson and loaded with legendary players including Alessandro Nesta, Pavel Nedvěd, Juan Sebastián Verón, Diego Simeone, and Marcelo Salas. Considering that the current squad does not have any players of that calibre, the fact that Juve and Inter have probably the two best coaches in the league in Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte, as well as Juve's stranglehold on the Scudetto since 2012, a Lazio league title 20 years later would be a more remarkable feat by several orders of magnitude.
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