Football: Lazio look too slick for Chelsea

LOSING 4-1 to Sunderland is not the ideal preparation for a trip to the Olympic Stadium in Rome to face Lazio and, even allowing for Chelsea's tendency to turn it on in the Champions' League, it is hard to envisage anything other than a comfortable home win tonight.

Lazio are awesome at their best. Lying second in Serie A and unbeaten in the Champions' League, they boast a strike force of the Chilean Marcelo Salas and the Croatian Alen Boksic, with Juan Sebastian Veron, the outstanding Argentinian playmaker, in midfield. Lazio bounced back from a shock 4- 1 defeat by Roma in the Rome derby by winning 2-0 at Perugia on Saturday. Chelsea could be in for a real kicking.

Manchester United should beat Valencia at Old Trafford tomorrow. United responded to their defeat by Fiorentina by beating Palmeiras 1-0 in the World Club Cup and hammering Everton 5-1 on Saturday.

n Suggested bet: pounds 2 double Lazio to beat Chelsea (8-13) and Man Utd to beat Valencia (4-6) with Coral. (pounds 2 staked).

PRICES

CHAMPIONS' LEAGUE

C H L S T

Lazio 8-13 8-13 8-13 4-6 4-7

Draw 9-4 9-4 9-4 9-4 5-2

Chelsea 4-1 4-1 4-1 7-2 4-1

Man Utd 4-6 8-13 8-13 8-13 4-6

Draw 9-4 9-4 5-2 5-2 12-5

Valencia 7-2 4-1 7-2 7-2 10-3

C Coral, H William Hill, L Ladbrokes, S Stanley, T Tote