Napoli vs. Palermo: Giornata 4

By: Neil | September 23rd, 2008

Ciao Napoli & Serie A fans!

I’ll be taking over blogging duties from Joe, whose busy schedule is forcing him to give up the blog. Ever since I discovered this blog over a year ago Joe has kept me both informed and entertained about everything to do with SSC Napoli. Joe’s research and sense of humour will be greatly missed, and I’m hoping that Napoli fans won’t hold me up to the lofty standards that Joe set. I’ll tell you a little more about myself in future blogs, but for now our southern friends are paying us a visit Wednesday night.

This is a BIG game for Napoli, not just because we compete with Palermo for the “best team south of Rome” title, but also because they’re a quality side who should have done better than an 11th place finish last year. Their strength starts in goal, with Italy’s no. 2 Marco Amelia between the sticks. As good as Fontanta played last year, they somehow managed to improve in goal. I’m also impressed with their coach. Davide Ballardini performed a miracle guiding Cagliari to safety last year, something most of Serie A’s top coaches probably couldn’t have done. On the field the engine of the team is Brazilian Fabio Simplicio, who is in top form right now.

Palermo’s record this season is 2-0-1 (6 pts), which places them just above Napoli who are 1-2-0 (5). However, their one loss came the first week of the season when Colantuono was coach. Since the arrival of Ballardini the team has beaten Roma 3-1 and Genoa 2-1, and have been very impressive in both those games.

Napoli will be playing their 4th game in 11 days, and will be without the injured Lavezzi and the suspended Santacroce. Zalayeta returns to the starting lineup to replace Lavezzi, and Rinaudo will play at right fullback to cover for Santacroce. Incidentally, Santacroce was expelled from a team dinner for tripping up one of the waiters. He was then ejected from the bus for hacking down the coach driver. Seriously, if Santacroce learns how to tackle consistently he will start to dominate games.

Napoli projected lineup: Iezzo, Rinaudo, Cannavaro, Aronica/Contini, Vitale, Hamsik, Blasi, Gargano, Maggio, Zalayeta, Denis. Either Aronica or Contini could start at left fullback, and if Maggio hasn’t healed from a muscle twinge then look for Montervino to get a place in midfield.

Palermo projected lineup: check the Palermo blog
http://palermo.theoffside.com/team-news/preview-derby-delle-due-sicilie.html
as they are better aware of the Palermo lineup than I am.

Key Questions:

Napoli – Can the offence thrive without Lavezzi?

Palermo – Is Palermo as good on the road as they are at home?

Last year this fixture ended 1-0 for Napoli as Marek Hamsik took advantage of Barzagli’s slack defending to head a 90th minute winner. Both teams have improved since that game, and this should be a close and entertaining match. I will be back on Thursday with a report, although if I’m not able to pick up a live stream it won’t be very detailed.