U.S. Palermo vs S.S.C Napoli- Serie A Preview
Palermo will hope to dismantle the settled Napoli outfit and earn themselves a chance of achieving a UEFA Europa League spot when the two teams meet on Saturday, April 23, at Stadio Renzo Barbera.
U.S. Palermo
The Pink-Blacks are currently eighth in the League table with 47 points and would ideally want to upset the Blues in order to leave themselves with a chance of qualifying for the Europa League. Palermo’s home form has been pretty decent and Delio Rossi’s
side have notched up nine out of their league 14 wins at home. They have only suffered four of their 14 losses at home to go along with the three draws.
The Pink-Blacks have been in a decent goal scoring form as they have scored 50 times. However, the defence has been shaky all season as the Aquile have shipped in 54 goals. In their last five games, Palermo have achieved two wins to go along with two losses.
The remaining game, played against AC Cesena, ended in a draw.
S.S. Napoli
Napoli will start the game in second on the League table. Walter Mazzarri’s team would be hoping to grab all the three points in order to close the gap on the leaders, AC Milan. A win would also help Napoli to extend their lead over http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan, who are
third in the table.
The Partenopei have launched 20 wins this season so far, with nine of them coming away from home. Five of the eight losses have also come while playing away. The Blues have also achieved two of their five draws being on the away strips. The Partenopei have
scored 53 goals so far in the campaign. Statistics make up for an interesting read where the Azzurri have been lethal in the last quarter of the games, where they have scored 20 of the 53 goals.
They have been decent in defence, having conceded 32 goals so far. In their last five games, the Blues have bagged four wins to go along with just one loss which came against Udinese.
Team News
U.S. Palermo
The Eagles will go in with a 4-3-1-2 formation. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Javier-Pastore-c18082, who would be hoping
to break the drought after going goalless in his last eight Serie A games.
S.S. Napoli
The Blues are likely to go in with a 3-4-2-1 formation. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Giuseppe-Mascara-c15024 and Marek Hamsik will be providing support on the flanks. Morgan De Sanctics will be guarding Napoli’s net. There are no major injury
concerns for Mazzarri but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paolo-Cannavaro-c29080 will be missing the game through suspension.
Players to Watch
Palermo will certainly be hoping to see Pastore back in goal scoring as they try to upset http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003’s title aspirations. The striker has 10 goals in the campaign so far from 32 appearances. The Argentinean would love to add to his tally against the title contenders,
which could prove to be a turning point at the end of the game for the Pink-Blacks.
Napoli, on the other hand, will pin all their hopes upon their inform striker Cavani, who has a record 25 goals in the competition so far from 32 appearances. The Blues would be hoping that the striker continues his goal scoring form and help Napoli close
gap on Milan.
Prediction
Napoli could find it difficult against a determined Palermo outfit but Mazzarri’s side look set to achieve a hard fought victory. The final score line could possibly be 2-1 in favour of the Blues.
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