Napoli - Livorno (Coppa Italia) match preview

By: Joe | August 27th, 2007

Napoli welcome A.S. Livorno to the San Paolo on Wednesday evening in the 3rd, and final, elimination round of the Coppa Italia. From here on out the competition switches to a series of home-and-away draws to determine the winner. Wednesday’s winner will take on S.S. Lazio in the round of 16. The next match against Lazio would not occur until mid-December allowing the winner time to concentrate on their league form.

Both sides come off disappointing starts to the Serie A campaign. Livorno had the misfortune of welcoming Juventus back to Italy’s top flight. The results were a predictable 5-1 loss to the bianconeri. While the result was more flattering than the actual play, getting five dropped on you just can’t feel good for the Amaranto. Napoli sufferred its first home loss in almost three years in their Serie A return after a six-year hiatus. Napoli were done in by an injury to Calaio, a dubious penalty call, the lack of a red card on Lopez for a vicious high boot to the knee of Marik Hamsik and the loss of 2/3 of the back line in Paolo Cannavaro and Maurizio Domizzi.

Napoli should have a full roster for the match and will face a Livorno side facing a midfield injury crisis. Nico Pulzetti will miss the match due to card violations in last year’s tournament when he played for Hellas Verona. Just a side note on the hated gialloblu as they’ve dropped their first Serie C1 match against Cittadella this week. Additionally, new signing Giuliano Giannichedda from Juventus, Vikash Dhorasoo and former Napoli man Josè Luis da Cruz Vidigal are all likely to miss the match due to injury. Mariano Bogliacino and Hamsik should be able to control the middle of the park and create plenty of scoring opportunities.

However, despite the 5 goals Livorno gave up against Juve, Fernando Orsi’s back line of Grandoni, Knezevic, Galante & Pasquale are experienced and played well together last season. Additionally, Livorno’s defense become even fiercer if they decide to play Italian international keeper Marco Amelia. Rumours abound regarding the future of the 25-year old Roman keeper as he has drawn interest across many European teams. Amelia has enough talent to keep Livorno’s relegation fears at bay but the club may have to sell him soon or risk losing his services without compensation on a free transfer. Livorno’s revamped attack is led by former Empoli star Francesco Tavano and Spainsh striker Diego Tristan who look to replace talisman and captain Cristiano Lucarelli who left for Shaktar Donetsk.

Livorno’s President Aldo Spinelli was interviewed on Radio Marte and said the Coppa Italia is “a hassle” and he’d rather not play the contest in order to concentrate on their league form and Serie A survival. The Vesuvian side will be more than happy to beat a reserve side and secure passage to the round of 16. Napoli coach Edy Reja surely feels the pressure after Napoli’s home loss debut and should play almost a full squad in order to secure a lucrative home draw against Lazio.