Preview: Derby Delle Due Sicilie

By: Steven | September 23rd, 2008

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 20.30
Stadio San Paolo, Napoli

Palermo Boys, we are here. We beat your women and drink their beer, Palermo Boys, we are here.

Overview

6/6 since the Ballardini take-over, fourth place in the table, we kicked Roma and Genoa’s ass, the squad is elated, Zampa is as quiet and invisible as a guy who got assraped with a strap-on by his own sister and we’re relying on one player, a Brazilian …any Palermitano knows that this is the perfect breeding ground for a beating in Garbageville. Still, there are reasons to believe that we can pull off another steal. Napoli has one hell of a busy schedule (Intertoto => Uefa + competition + Coppa), and we have all the time in the world to rest the squad. Still, Reja’s boys held Udinese to a draw last weekend, did the same to Roma and beat Fiorentina and Benfica. All you can say is: the Partenopei are one of the most dangerous teams in Serie A.

Squad Status

Palermo

Bobby Goblin seems to be out, and The Glass Man is still in dubio. According to Stadionews, the Salentino has almost recuperated from clipping his nails to short and might be ready for a substitution tomorrow. Budan is still out, and might be replaced by either Sneeze or Suck. Moris, aka The Destructor, and Bovo will try and beat the living shit out of the Napoli-attack.

Probable Lineup:
Amelia; Cassani, Carrozzieri, Bovo, Balzaretti; Bresciano, Liverani, Nocerino, Simplicio, Cavani, Succi

Napoli

Normally, this is where I say: “Why don’t you guys head over to the Napoli-blog for that?”, but Joe seems to be napping these days.

So: no Lavezzi. W00t w00t! Furthermore: no Bogliaccino and no Santacroce, but Maggio has recovered from his injuries.

Probable Lineup:
Iezzo; Cannavaro, Rinaudo, Aronica; Montervino, Gargano, Blasi, Pazienza, Vitale; Denis, Zalayeta

Categorical Matchup

Caesar vs. Sketchy-ezzo: Palermo. Iezzo isn’t the worst keeper around, but I don’t trust his judgement on high balls. Marco is looking fine, couldn’t do nothing against the Milito-goal.

Bash Brothers vs. We Wanted Those!: Push. Bovo + Moris = carnage waiting to happen. Too bad Napoli’s central pair has those same properties.

Brazilians > Landing Strips vs. Mediocrity: Palermo. The weakest point is Napoli’s midfield. Garagano is a beast, but the rest hasn’t really convinced me yet. With Bresciano and Simplicio playing better than ever and Nocerino finding his way, we’re at the top of our strenght.

Still Not Convinced vs. South America: I’m still not feeling all that confident about our attacking strenght. If Cavani does it again tomorrow, I’m jumping on the bandwagon. The biggest problem is that he’s paired with The Suck again, and we all saw what his strong point is: leaving a sweaty ass-mark on the bench. Zalayeta isn’t the big boy striker, but I’m a little scared of Denis. Frankly, I’m a little scared of all Germans.

Final Analysis

This is make-or-break night. Beating Napoli, another direct opponent, might be the way to start that winning streak. But: away, at the San Paolo, against Napoli…this game is gonna be harder than my schlong on a random friday night after bootyrubbing it all night at the disco.

Form Guide

Palermo
LWW

Napoli
XWX

Past Encounters

30/03/2008 Napoli Palermo 1-0 Serie A
10/11/2007 Palermo Napoli 2-1 Serie A
10/04/2004 Napoli Palermo 1-1 Serie B
16/11/2003 Palermo Napoli 4-0 Serie B

Prediction

We can do this if we keep our heads cool. Yet again.

0-1. Cavani.

MOTM

The Brazilian.

Remembering the good times