Il Derby Delle Due Sicilie

By: Neil | February 8th, 2009

This game is a crucial six pointer for both sides. Napoli are currently tied for 7th (10-4-8) and Palermo sit in 9th (10-2-10) At the end of the day Napoli could have a five point lead over the Sicilians, or Palermo could take a one point lead over the Campani. And since it’s the posticipo people all over the world will be watching.
What: Palermo vs. Napoli
Where: Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo
When: Sunday, February 8, 2009 20 30 CET, 2 30 Eastern, 11 30 Pacific
TV: Take your pick from RAI or Fox Soccer Channel

New signing Jesus Datolo arrived in Italy this morning, but will not be part of the starting eleven to face Palermo. It’s unlikely that he will even make the bench. Also missing are Iezzo and Gianello, so Bucci will back up Navarro.

Palermo are coming off two straight losses, but those were both difficult games. Last week they held in form Genoa for 87 minutes at the Marassi before the 4th place side got a late winner from Criscito. The week before they lost away to Roma, and after two straight road games the Rosanero will be back in the comforts of their home stadium. It should be noted that Palermo’s home record is almost as good as Napoli’s. In ten home games Palermo has won eight and lost two, while in eleven home games Napoli has won eight, drawn two and lost one. So although Napoli did have the best home record in the league for many weeks, the loss to Roma and the draw to Udinese brought them closer to the rest of the pack. Title of best home record now goes to Inter and Genoa who are both unbeaten at home with eight wins and three draws.

Napoli boss Edy Reja believes the team’s midweek Coppa Italia shootout loss to Juventus could be a turning point. Reja is a solid optimist, and he’s said things like this before the Chievo game, the Roma game, the Udinese game, and the Juventus game. We didn’t win any of them, although against Juve the boys put on a great show, and put themselves in position to win in the last ten minutes of regulation time. Can the team do the same away to Palermo? It’s hard to say. Because Serie A games aren’t single elimination games teams can generally take more risks in trying to win. Plus Juve didn’t play their best game Wednesay, as the Coppa is probably their third priority. Basically Palermo is going to come out flying on Sunday night, and will play to win rather than playing not to lose as Juve arguably did. How will Napoli handle the test? Recent reports indicate that Roberto Mancini could take over from Reja in the summer. I think even Marino and De Laurentiis are starting to lose faith in Reja.

Here is the goal.com preview for the game. This week the preview is particularly good, and goes into a lot of depth for each team.

For player selection Reja always comes up with some surprises, and the question is will he start the two Palermo boys Rinaudo and Aronica? My hunch is that he will stick with most of the team from Wednesday, so Rinaudo could miss out and Aronica could start in place of Vitale. But my predicted starting lineups are simply guesswork.

Napoli possible lineup: Navarro – Santacroce, Cannavaro, Contini, Aronica – Maggio, Blasi, Gargano, Hamsik – Lavezzi, Denis

For the Palermo lineup, check out the Palermo offside page. Our Sicilian friends do a great job writing about their team, and it’s no suprise that the Palermo site is one of the more popular offside pages.

Key question for Napoli: Can the team score a timely goal? If Palermo scores first it’s going to be tough coming back, so we need to snipe the first goal or hold out for a scoreless draw.

Key question for Palermo: Can the team execute to their ability? If they can, they should hand Napoli its seventh straight road loss.

I would be really happy with a draw here. As Reja points out, the Barbera is a “hot” atmosphere” and a single point by hook or crook would be a positive result for Napoli. We showed against Juve that our form is returning, now let’s hope we can convert our form into results. Forza Napoli!