Preview: Lazio - Palermo

By: lorenzo | May 3rd, 2008

Sunday, May 4th, 2008 15.00
Stadio Olimpico, Roma

Squad Status

Palermo

Palermo will be without Zaccardo due to suspension and “Bikerman” Caserta and “Cyranose” Biava who sustained some injuries during the week. Most likely, The Suit will employ the 4-2-3-1 again this week, even though he’s been thinking about the 4-4-2.

Probable Line-up:
Agliardi; Cassani, Barzagli, Rinaudo, Balzaretti; Guana, Migliaccio; Jankovic, Miccoli, Bresciano; Amauri

Bench:
Super Fontana; Emo’tino, Romeo (no joke…that’s his name); Di Matteo, Simplicio, Nonno Tedesco; Çani, Carbonaro, Cavani

Lazio

Man, looks like they’ve taken a hit for players as there are a bunch of doubts for their lineup tomorrow. Most recently, it looks like the man who makes Nonno Tedesco look like a picciriddu - Marco Ballotta, is out for tomorrow. Joining him are Rocchi, Radu, Behrami, Diakite, Dabo and Siviglia. Do they have anyone left to play this match? Apparently, they have found players to play tomorrow…so, I guess that counts for something. They will incorporate the ol’ 4-3-1-2.

Probable Line-Up:
Muslera; Zauri, Rozenhal, Cribari, Kolarov; Mutarelli, Ledesma, Manfredini; Meghni; Pandev, Tare

Bench:
Berni, De Silvestri, Mudingayi, Vignaroli, Mauri, Del Nero, Bianchi

Categorical Matchup

Aiutami! Agliardi vs. Fernando ~~Muslim~~ Muslera: Palermo. Let’s face it, Agliardi hasn’t exactly been a wall of confidence back there. However, he has played pretty darn well as of late. He’s made some nice saves and looks to be gaining some of that confidence he certainly has lacked. Muslera, on the other hand, is young and relatively inexperienced. He’s given up 12 goals in 7 games this year. He has some upside though, just not this year.

Leaky Pipes vs. Swiss Cheese: Palermo. The defense has been playing somewhat better and Biava is out. Add to that is the return of Rinaudo and on paper, it looks like we only have a few leaks here and there. Plus, we have Emo’tino on the bench…he’ll try not to cut himself while awaiting a sub into the game…(I kid!). Lazio’s defense hasn’t exactly been that good this year. They’ve given up 48 goals to Palermo’s 52. However, I’m giving Palermo the edge here because Lazio is employing what looks to be a second team backline as they prepare for their semi-final game against Inter.

Baldies + 2 vs. the M Squad + Ledesma: Push. Guana. That’s it. Guana. He’s most likely starting and as long as we have him on the field running around like a schizo, our midfield will hurt because of it. Plus, Lazio’s midfield is decent. They’re not using possible transfer target Behrami tomorrow (who, just might be one of the weirdest looking dudes in all of Serie A.

Amaurinho vs. the Foreign Legion: Palermo. Amaurinho is only with us for a few more games before he goes to most likely Rubentus and Champions League glory. That being said, he’s looking to give Palermo some gifts before he leaves in the form of magical goals like he scored against the aformentioned Rubentini. I will take him over the duo of Tare and Pandev any day. Pandev is solid, while Tare is old. And his hair is ridiculously blonde - so much so that you almost need to sport sunglasses to watch him play. So, yeah. Amauri is King.

Final Analysis

Neither team really has anything to play for anymore this season. Mathematically, Palermo can still make the Intertoto, but it’ll take some mighty fine luck to achieve that. Lazio has the Coppa Italia still, so they’re already looking to the midweek game. Thus, it comes down to pride and performance for next season for both teams’ players and coaches. Seeing as Lazio still has somewhat of a distraction with the midweek game and a chance at silverware, Palermo has a good chance at coming away with a win.

Form Guide

Palermo
30/03 Napoli-Palermo 1-0 L
06/04 Palermo-Juventus 3-2 W
12/04 Palermo-Catania 1-0 W
19/04 Fiorentina-Palermo 1-0 L
27/04 Palermo-Atalanta 0-0 D

Lazio
29/03 Lazio-Inter 1-1 D
06/04 Parma-Lazio 2-2 D
13/04 Lazio-Siena 1-1 D
20/04 Catania-Lazio 1-0 L
27/04 Juventus-Lazio 5-2 L

Prediction

3-1. Amauri, Amauri, Amauri, Bianchi.

MOTM

Amauri.