Italian Serie A Preview: AC Milan – US Palermo (Part 1)
Rossoneri aiming to go top
Massimiliano Allegri’s side has played second fiddle to high flying SS Lazio so far in the Serie A but now they have a chance of leapfrogging the league leaders. Should Milan manage a victory against Palermo and Lazio fail to win away at Cesena, Rossoneri
will be the new league leaders. As things stand, Milan is just two points behind Lazio and 20 points from the opening 10 games.
Allegri’s side has been plagued with inconsistency this season and Milan must win this game to keep the pressure on League leaders. Rossoneri have had an impressive record at home and despite an unlucky 2 – 1 defeat to Juventus on match day nine, Allegri’s
men have conceded only four goals from their five home games.
Even though Allegri will be confident of his side bagging maximum points, the tactician must not get complacent for Milan attack has been far from impressive with both Robinho and Ronaldinho misfiring. The former was given a starting berth against Bari but
he failed to make the most of it as he squandered three one-on-one opportunities.
Allegri is well aware of this fact and said, "When games become easy we have a tendency to relax, and this allows teams to get back into games. I think we are creating plenty, but we have to do better with the clear chances. On Sunday we gave Bari too many
chances, when we should have closed the game at 3 - 0”
Palermo’s fading European ambitions
Delio Rossi’s side finished fifth last season after narrowly missing out on Champions League action. Expectations were even higher this time around with Zamparini making some inspired purchases in the transfer market. However, the club sold highly rated
forward Edinson Cavani to SSC Napoli. Cavani is a complete penalty box striker and his absence has been severely felt in the absence of club talisman Fabrizio Miccoli.
With four losses and four victories from opening ten Serie A games, Palermo have been blighted by inconsistency. Where Rosanero’s 1 – 3 victory over Juventus was extremely impressive, their 2 – 1 defeat to a struggling Udinese was disappointing in equal
measures.
Rosanero will look to invoke the spirit of last season when the mighty Milan was brought down at San Siro. Delio Rossi’s men have shown good form on their travels with victories over Juventus and Fiorentina. As things stand, Palermo ranks 8th
in the League with 14 points – 4 points off Juventus who are occupying the last Champions League spot.
Tonight’s game against Milan has the potential to be a tide changing fixture for Delio Rossi’s men as a victory will establish Rosanero as one of the top dogs in Serie A. However, the coach is taking nothing for granted and, in a recent interview, revealed
that Palermo will have to produce the performance of the season to register a victory at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
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