Palermo have a great chance to further improve their league position with three points against Novara, a team that sit at the bottom of the Serie A standings at the moment. The newly promoted side are one of the worst travelers in the top flight, so they are likely to find it hard to match very good Palermo at their Renzo Barbera.

A force to be reckoned with at Renzo Barbera

Ambitious and somewhat controversial president Maurizio Zamparini helped transfer Palermo into genuine top table side over the years, but the Rosanero are yet unable to make that next step and enter the race for the European places. The Renzo Barbera outfit started the season in bright fashion, mostly thanks to the impressive performances at home, and it is their poor form on the travels that is preventing the team from closing the gap behind their rivals. The dismal run of results that saw the Rosanero pick up just one point from five league games finally came to an end as Bortolo Mutti’s side hammered Genoa 5:3 at home, once again proving that they are a real force to be reckoned with at their Renzo Barbera. The game against bottom-placed Novara is a perfect opportunity to extend the good run of results and finally record two wins in a row, so I have no doubts the Rosanero will be at their very best in this clash.

Striker Abel Hernandez remains sidelined through injury, but the important thing is that Fabrizio Miccoli is in excellent form, having scored one and set up three more goals in the Genoa win.

No light on the horizon

Even before the season started Novara were tipped for a straight return to Serie B, and the newly promoted side did nothing to prove the doubters wrong. The Biancoazzurri were very busy in the transfer market, both in the summer and winter transfer windows, but in spite of signing several players with huge Serie A experienced, Attilio Tesser’s side just couldn’t do anything to escape from the bottom of the standings. The alarm bells have been on for a quite a while now, and after the team picked up just one point in their last five league games, they now sit no less than seven points adrift of safety. Novara are the team that are preventing Palermo from being regarded as the worst travelers in the top flight, having picked up just 2 points from 9 away games, and with that record in mind, they certainly cannot be trusted to stop Palermo from winning this game.

Alex Pinardi, Carlalberto Ludi and Andrea Lisuzzo continue to miss out, but the good news is coach Attilio Tesser has no fresh injury worries.

Verdict

Palermo boast one of the best home records in the elite division and after the remarkable 5:3 victory over very good Genoa side, they should have no problems recording a comfortable win against Novara as well. Having taken just two points from nine away games this term, the visitors clearly don’t have much to hope for before the trip to Palermo.

Our prediction: Palermo with -1 Asian handicap

Odds: 1.96 (24/25)

Bookmaker: Ladbrokes