Why Lazio are keeping pace with Inter, and whether it lasts

In August, Lazio were the team nobody wanted to predict anything for. They had finished ninth. Maurizio Sarri had left for Atalanta. The club worked through a summer transfer window in which every purchase had to be paid for by a sale, the supporters were boycotting the Stadio Olimpico in protest against owner Claudio Lotito, and on 16 August, Gennaro Gattuso’s first competitive game ended in a 2-0 Coppa Italia defeat at home to Mantova.

Eight weeks later, Lazio are level on points with the champions at the top of Serie A. They have 16 points from six games, five wins and a draw. According to Adnkronos, it is the best start in the club’s history in the three-points-for-a-win era, better even than the 14 points Sven-Göran Eriksson’s title-winning side had at the same stage in 1999-2000.