SS Lazio
Lazio and Livorno's respective supporters are not yet guaranteed a place in next year's Serie A but victory for either side on Saturday would go a long way to easing fears of relegation with their respective financial futures far from secure. Livorno's tally of 36 points is four short of the normal "safety threshold" of 40 while Lazio are two points worse off than the men from Tuscany. Lazio could have theoretically been declared bankrupt this week but a court decision has once again breathed new life into a club that has been struggling ever since the demise of the regime of its former owner Sergio Cragnotti, the tomato sauce tycoon. Cragnotti's millions, spent lavishly by coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, landed the Scudetto for the Roman club as recently as 2000 as well as a host of other lesser trophies. Now, with Giuseppe Papadopulo at the reins and with no money to work with, the club is struggling to stay afloat both on the field and off it as well. Lazio defender Sebastiano Siviglia is aware that the players are not yet managing to keep their part of the bargain. He told club website www.sslazio.it:
"We seem to have found it difficult to close things down. We must stop the rot and we need more attention and collective concentration in the situation when we don't have the ball. "We cannot go forward like this and we need a wake-up call. We must talk less and act more. That is the recipe to get as many points as possible. "And with points we can aim for objectives that are beyond the one we have now which is to avoid relegation as soon as we possibly can." Unlike Lazio, Livorno do not have a glorious recent football past and this is their first campaign in the top flight since 1949-50. However, their president Aldo Spinelli, who was linked with a takeover of Roma earlier in the season, has now decided to seek a new challenge. "Today I met the mayor of Livorno and I told him I wanted to leave the club," Spinelli told club website www.livornocalcio.it. "Livorno is a business with a balanced budget and is very close to securing its Serie A status. "That is an important milestone for a club like ours that has to battle every Sunday against teams that have hundreds of thousands of euros at their disposal." Livorno will have to do without suspended goalkeeper Marco Amelia. Top scorer Cristiano Lucarelli and hardman defender Fabio Galante are also serving bans. Jorge Vargas will also not make the trip to Rome because he has been on duty with the Chilean national side. Coach Roberto Donadoni has a ready made replacement for Amelia in Gian Matteo Mareggini. Livorno are very close to achieving their objective and have only lost one of their last six matches in an impressive recent run.