Lazio are playing in their familiar sky blue shirts while Roma are also sporting traditional colours. This is a home fixture for Lazio yet they have started on the back foot. Roma look the most threatening but it's been a slow, scrappy start and neither keeper has been tested.

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Will Francesco Totti get to play in the Derby della Capitale one last time?

The Roma legend, who turns 40 in September, has yet to be offered an extension on his contract that expires this summer.

Skipper Totti, who holds the all-time appearance record in the Rome derby with 41 outings, has played only 64 minutes in Serie A since the New Year and again occupies a place on the substitutes bench.

"He’s done great things in the derby but, as coach, I have to ignore the emotions of the sport and consider other things," said boss Luciano Spalletti.

Roma have started brightly. Two corners in the opening five minutes but the distribution is woeful. Despite the lack of fans inside the Stadio Olimpico there is a terrific amount of noise being generated by both sets of supporters.

This has been a season of disappointment for both teams.

Lazio have been unable to match last season's efforts when they finished third in the table, one point behind runners-up Roma. Stefano Pioli's side start this game in eighth spot, six points behind seventh-placed Sassuolo.

Roma sacked Rudi Garcia in January after a poor run of results and have improved under Luciano Spalletti, who is in his second spell in charge. They are in third place, 13 points behind leaders Juventus, after taking 25 of the last 27 points available.

Peep, peep. The Rome derby gets under way against the depressing backdrop of thousands of empty seats on a pleasant spring afternoon in Italy's capital.

This fixture used to be huge. Now it's the subject of a fans' boycott. Which game you would not have missed years ago no longer appeals - and why?

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We're minutes away from kick-off in Rome. 

According to Italian media, only 22,000 tickets had been sold by Thursday morning for the Rome derby.

Not a great deal more have been purchased since by the looks of it. There are thousands of empty seats as both teams get ready to walk out.

Lazio XI: Marchetti, Patric, Bisevac, Hoedt, Braafheid, Cataldi, Biglia, Parolo, Candreva, Matri, Anderson.

Roma XI: Szczesny, Florenzi, Manolas, Rudiger, Digne, Nainggolan, Pjanic, Keita, Salah, Perotti, El Shaarawy.

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The Stadio Olimpico, home to both Lazio and Roma, has a capacity of 70,634 yet it could be half empty for the one Serie A fixture that matters more to the fans of these two clubs than any other.

Hardcore Roma supporters, who usually occupy the Curva Sud at the venue, announced last week that they would assemble at the club's former headquarters in the distant suburb of Testaccio to watch the game.

Their Lazio counterparts in the Curva Nord have also issued an open letter explaining why they plan to give the game a miss. Both groups are angry because the civil defence service has ordered the areas behind the goal to be divided by concrete barriers for security measures.

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In the past it was one of the world's most hostile derbies.

Gabriel Batistuta, Roberto Mancini, Paul Gascoigne, Pavel Nedved and Paolo Di Canio are among those to have experienced the relentless colour and noise the Derby della Capitale has conjured in the past.

Yet the first edition of the 2016 Rome derby is threatening to turn into a damp squib.

Fans of Lazio and Roma are not happy. And it's got nothing with the fact that both have endured indifferent campaigns on the pitch.