Preview: Palermo – Transfer Targets

By: Steven | January 8th, 2009

Sunday, January 11th, 2009 15.00
Stadio La Favorità, Palermo

I warriors, brigate rosanero, siamo forti e vinceremo!

Preview

So, we’re back after a two week hiatus. The start of 2009 meant the end of Andrea Raggi’s first season in rosanero, and marked a very slow start to the mercato for the team. And now Atalanta’s traveling all the way to the island for a match between two teams just below the European spots. A six pointer, as people sometimes like to call it. The arrival of Atalanta also means the return of Gigi Del Neri to the club he fucked up at. I’d love to get that stupid smile of his face by sunday evening.

This game is also the tale of two teams unable to score points on the road. Both we and Atalanta only scored five points away from home. Does this mean anything? Not really. It can give you a look at how poorly we can perform sometimes, but football is not science. Still, it’s clear that a win is needed here. We’re already behind in the rankings, but losing to a direct opposition like Atalanta would be a disaster.

Squad Status

Palermo

This is where the shit hits the fan. Not only do we miss Balzaretti and Bovo due to picking up too many yellow cards, we will most likely also miss Miccoli because of a serious case of Tonsillitis (or whatever it’s called). I don’t know about you guys, but I feel my sphinctor thightening when I think about who will replace Micco and Balza. That’s right, ShitPants and Succi.

Probable Lineup:
Amelia; Cassani, Carrozzieri, Kjaer, Capuano; Nocerino, Liverani, Bresciano; Simplicio; Cavani, Succi

Atalanta

Marco over at the Atalanta Offside can probably tell you all about it, but just for the record: Manfredini and De Ascentis are out, while Vieri scored his first on the last giornata.

Probable Lineup:
Coppola; Garics, Talamonti, Pellegrino, Bellini; Ferreira Pinto, Guarente, Padoin, Valdes; Doni; Floccari

Categorical Matchup

Soccer Mom vs. Francis Ford: Push. Stopping a penalty against Milan is great, but these games matter too. And Coppola might not be very well known, he’s a great keeper.

Butch Cassidy & The Sunscreen Kid vs. Danger: Push. It’ll depend. If Capuano doesn’t start, it’s ours. If he does, it’s a push. Atalanta has some talent with Garics and Talamonti, and shouldn’t be underestimated.

Fozzy and The Butt-Pirates vs. A Guy Called Tiberio: Palermo. Valdes is having a good spell and Pinto is fantastic, but Guarente and Padoin have yet to convince me.

Hippie and Sucky vs. Give Him To Us!: Atalanta. With Micco out, this could get bad. Cavani is still more of an assist-man than a scorer, while Succi is…well, Succi. On the other side, there’s Doni and our coveted transfer target Sergio Floccari.

Final Analysis

It’s going to be thighter than a twelve year old, I can tell you that. None of these teams want to lose, because losing the game means losing valuable points and places in the race for Europe. And a tie will get none of them anywhere, so a dosed attack would be the best strategy. I can see us getting away with a close win here. Maybe a Simplicio canonball or sneaky through ball…

Form Guide

Palermo
DWLWL

Atalanta
LWWDL

Previous Encounters:

27/04/2008 Palermo Atalanta 0-0 Serie A
16/12/2007 Atalanta Palermo 1-3 Serie A
24/02/2007 Atalanta Palermo 1-1 Serie A
15/10/2006 Palermo Atalanta 2-3 Serie A
24/04/2005 Atalanta Palermo 1-0 Serie A
05/12/2004 Palermo Atalanta 1-0 Serie A
28/03/2004 Atalanta Palermo 0-0 Serie B

Prediction
1-0, an ugly one.

MOTM:

Floccari, for not scoring.