Serie A Match Preview: A.S Roma vs. U.C Palermo
A.S http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 will host Palermo in the Match Day 7 encounter of the 2011/12 Serie A at the Stadio Olimpico Rome on Sunday, October 23rd, 2011 at 14:00 GMT.
Both teams come into this game on the back of defeats in their previous games. Roma suffered last minute heartbreak against local rivals, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lazio-c39775, last weekend. On the other hand, the Rosanero suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat to
Italian Champions, A.C Milan.
Devis Mangia’s men are placed 6th in the league table and drift the league leaders, Juventus, by only two points. On the other hand, the Giallorossi are on the 12th position with 8 points from their six games
played thus far.
A.S Roma
Roma played a decent game against the Biancocelesti until Simon Kjaer’s red card changed the match in the opposition’s favour. Luis Enrique’s side is slowly and steadily adjusting in its new philosophy but the Sporting Director,
Walter Sabatini, revealed a few days back that the club still needs a lot of improvement.
The recent games between the two sides have ended in a nail biting finish and Roma will be looking to make amends for the 3-2 defeat in the corresponding fixture of the last season.
Palermo
The Aquile have had a decent start to the ongoing season given the lack of transfer activity in the summer and the loss of influential midfielder, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Javier-Pastore-c18082. The defeat to Milan in the previous game has done nothing good to
their confidence in preparations for this game as the critics have started to voice their negative opinions.
Palermo’s weaknesses were exposed in the 4-4-2 setup against Milan and Mangia might revert to a 4-5-1 setup to tighten up his midfield.
Team News
A.S Roma
Skipper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Francesco-Totti-c13940, has still not recovered from the thigh injury and will miss out on this game as well. Kjaer is serving suspension for the sending off against Lazio last week and is expected to be replaced by Nicolas Burdisso
in the heart of Giallorossi defence.
Expected line-up: Stekelenburg; Cassetti, N.Burdisso, Heinze, Angel; Simplicio, De Rossi, Perrotta; Bojan, Pjanic, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Osvaldo-c28821
Palermo
Skipper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabrizio-Miccoli-c13236, is a major doubt for the game after failing to carry on in the second half against Milan. There are no other major absentees for the visitors. Abel Hernandez is likely to lead the attack in a changed
formation.
Expected line-up: Tzorvas; Pisano, Silvestre, Migliaccio, Balzaretti; Bertolo, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barreto-c7308, Della Rocca, Ilicic, Acquah; Hernandez,
Players to Watch
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pablo-Osvaldo-c28996 (A.S Roma)
The former Espanyol star has been an influential figure in his team’s performances so far this season. The Italian international joined Roma in the summer transfer window for a hefty price of approximately 17-million-Euros and
the striker has lived up to the price tag so far. Osvaldo has scored 4 goals in 6 games so far this season.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Abel-Hernández-c3432 (Palermo)
In case Miccoli misses out in this game, Hernandez will have to play a huge role to inspire his team to a win. The Uruguayan has scored 2 goals in 5 matches this season but he has the potential to do more.
Prediction
Despite the recent fixtures between the two sides speaking in favour of Palermo, Roma are likely to prevail in a close finish as they have a more balanced attack and also enjoy the luxury of playing at home.
Verdict: 2-1
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