Lazio vs Palermo preview

September 24, 2011
By: Matthew Clarke

Lazio finally recorded a morale boosting victory as they beat Cesena away and are now looking to jump over Palermo in the standings, whereas this is a perfect opportunity for the Rossanero to show they can be competitive on the travels.

The start of the season was pretty good for Lazio as the comprehensive win over Rabotnicki in Europa League play-off and credible draw at San Siro hinted that the team were ready for big things this season.

However, everything changed in the space of just few days as 2:2 draw with Vaslui and home defeat to Genoa had a pretty detrimental effect on the atmosphere around the club.

Coach Edy Reja even offered his resignation, which was immediately turned down, and Reja quickly paid the club chiefs back for their confidence in his abilities as the Biancocelesti went on to beat Cesena at Dino Manuzzi.

The win served as a big confidence boost before the Palermo game, with Lazio now 1.91 (10/11) with Ladbrokes to record another victory.

Stefano Mauri, Stefan Radu, Simone Del Nero and Giuseppe Biava remain long-term worries, but Konko and Lulic should return to the starting line-up.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Marchetti – Konko, Diakite, Dias, Lulic – Brocchi, Ledesma – Sculli, Hernanes, Cisse – Klose.

Palermo had a dismal start to the season as they were eliminated from Europe at the very first hurdle, with club president Maurizio Zamparini wasting no time in sacking coach Stefano Pioli.

The controversial owner had no time to search for a new coach, but was forced to appoint youth coach David Mangia and that is proving to be a pretty good decision so far.

After masterminding impressive 4:3 victory over Inter, the young coach could do little to help his side avoid defeat in Atalanta, but Palermo quickly returned to winning ways, having beaten Cagliari at home in midweek.

There are no doubts that Palermo are a real force to be reckoned with at their Renzo Barbera, but the Rossanero largely struggle on the travels, so odds of 1.95 (19/20) offered by William Hill on Palermo not to lose could be even higher.

The visitors will again heavily rely on Fabrizio Miccoli, who scored three league goals in as many games, with former Juventus man 3.70 (27/10) with Unibet to score at Olimpico.

Josip Ilicic should return to the starting line-up after being rested against Cagliari, but Edgar Alvarez remains sidelined. Mauro Cetto and Afriyie Acquah are still not fully fit, but they could make the bench.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Tzorvas – Pisano, Silvestre, Migliaccio, Balzaretti – Zahavi, Della Rocca, Barreto, Ilicic – Miccoli, Hernandez.  

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