AS Roma will host Lazio in the 31st week of Serie A. Even though As Roma will act as hosts, that doesn't mean they will be able to win this match easily, this is a difficult match for them, as well as for the visiting Lazio team. In the standings they are only 2 positions apart with a distance of 6 points, AS Roma has 52 points, while Lazio has collected 46 points.
It will be a first Rome derby for De Rossi as a coach and it is his new experience after many Derby della Capitale as a Roma player. Roma after a draw last week will not want to drop any point, even it is a derby match. Because with 5 points less than Bologna, they already see a fourth position farther so beating Lazio and get three points to at least maintain 5 points less than Bologna is important for Roma.
They must have like 5 points or 3 points and better less than 3 point difference before meeting with Bologna in a direct match. It will be a good opportunity for Roma to take over a fourth position from Bologna but they must get nearly perfect results till that direct match.
Lazio itself certainly didn't come to lose, they came with a winning mission that they had to achieve to improve their position in the standings.
Lazio and Roma have a same home stadium and host or guest, it's only on the paper. Lazio are familiar with Olimpico Stadium and they are strong enough to challenge Roma, for their ranking improvement and their club pride too.
AS Roma managed to emerge victorious in the match with a single goal scored by Gianluca Mancini in the 42nd minute. I see AS Roma managed to play better, even though Lazio could also have played well. This match was tight because both teams had great difficulty breaking through their respective defenses, both AS Roma and Lazio.
However, AS Roma managed to convert the opportunity they got at the end of the first half into a goal and that was the only goal scored in this match. Lazio tried their best to respond, but they were not strong enough to penetrate the defense built by AS Roma.
Under De Rossi's direction, I see AS Roma can slowly show improvement in several positions. Even though they don't play much defense, their defense is quite solid and also when they attack they are more creative and more productive. This is a big capital for AS Roma if they give him the opportunity to return to manage AS Roma next season.