AS Roma v Lazio: Preview

Roma coach Rudi Garcia will be unable to field his strongest side when the Giallosrossi take on Lazio in Sunday's Eternal City derby at the Stadio Olimpico. Defender Maicon and midfielders Alessandro Florenzi and Daniele De Rossi suffered muscular injuries during Wednesday's 3-2 triumph over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
 To complicate matters in Roma's midfield, captain Francesco Totti and Seydou Keita are unavailable with thigh injuries and Miralem Pjanic has to serve a one-match suspension. Pjanic's absence is a significant blow for Roma with the Bosnia international having enjoyed a strong start to the campaign.
 The 25-year-old has scored five goals and set up five more in 10 Serie A appearances to help Roma score a league best 25 goals in the domestic competition.
 Pjanic also found the back of the net for a second straight game in the Champions League by striking the winner from the penalty spot against Leverkusen in midweek. Wednesday's victory was Roma's first in Europe this season and lifted them to second place in Group E with two games remaining. ``We should have killed the game off earlier but in the end we got the three points that we needed, that are crucial for us,'' Pjanic said on his club's official website.
 ``We need to continue on this path because we want to reach the last 16.