With Palermo in desperate need of a win to boost their survival hopes and Inter in danger of slipping from Europa League positions, something will have to give when the two sides square off at Renzo Barbera. While Fabrizio Miccoli returns for the Rosanero, the Nerazzurri’s injury list just keeps getting longer.

In the nick of time

Palermo have spent much of the current campaign in the relegation positions, but they seem to have hopped on the last train to Serie A survival. Just when everybody started writing them down, the Rosanero recorded back to back wins over Roma and Sampdoria to close the gap behind safety, while draws against Bologna and Catania further aided their cause. The team have been showing a lot of character of late, even with some key men missing, with the last-gasp equalizer in Derby di Sicilia likely to serve as a major confidence boost. Josip Ilicic once again proved the saviour, having scored in his fourth consecutive match, but this time he will get an extra help from key attacker Fabrizio Miccoli, who returns to the side after missing the trip to Stadio Angelo Massimino. With games against Juventus, Udinese, Fiorentina and Parma next on agenda, Palermo might feel the game against injury-plagued Inter is their best opportunity for three points out of the five remaining fixtures.

Fabrizio Miccoli returns, but Andrea Dossena miss out through suspension and Andrea Mantovani is out injured.

Inter end three-match losing run

This was always going to be a difficult season for Inter following the major squad overhaul in the summer, but things seemed to be going extremely well until a month and a half ago. The Nerazzurri were doing great on all fronts, with big strength in depth allowing Andrea Stramaccioni to rotate his players, but then the injury crisis hit the squad and nothing has been the same since. Key players kept picking up injuries one after another and it has come to a point where no less than 13 first team players are in the infirmary. It was, therefore, not surprising to see Inter crash out of Europe and Coppa Italia as well as seriously damage their top 5 hopes with back to back defeats to Atalanta and Cagliari. The hard-fought victory over Parma helped the players restore some of the lost confidence, but the team showed little to suggest they can defeat in-form Palermo at their Renzo Barbera. Inter will not be lacking in motivation given they are still in the race for European positions, but they may not be able to match that of Palermo, who are fighting for their lives at the moment.

Walter Samuel is the latest casualty, with key players Milito, Cassano, Guarin, Palacio, Nagatomo, Cambiasso and Gargano still in the infirmary.

Verdict

Palermo have been showing a lot of improvement of late and with Fabrizio Miccoli back to the side, the Rosanero can be trusted to keep the momentum going and produce a promising display against Inter. The Neroazzurri are clearly finding it hard to cope with the injury crisis, and I seriously doubt they can get something from Renzo Barbera.

Top pick: Home win   2.30 (13/10) @ Paddy Power

Alternative pick 1: Over 2.5 goals   2.00 (1/1) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 2: Both teams to score   1.75 (3/4) @ Ladbrokes

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