Roma vs Palermo preview

October 22, 2011
By: Matthew Clarke

Roma desperately need a win in order to restore some of the lost confidence following the derby defeat to Lazio, whereas Palermo might feel the same way after the heavy loss at San Siro.

Roma fans are still waiting to see the effects of Luis Enrique’s reign, and the Spanish boss will have to give his very best to get the fans’ backing after losing to Lazio at the weekend.

Nobody knows how the game would have unfolded if Simon Kjaer hadn’t been sent off at the start of the second half, when Roma were still in front, but there is no point crying over spilt milk, so the Giallorossi will have to quickly forget that game.

The Lazio defeat ended team’s good run of results, so there are no doubts that Luis Enrique’s side will be looking to return to winning ways, with 888Sport paying 1.73 (8/11) on home win.

Francesco Totti is likely to miss this game as well, whereas Simon Kjaer is suspended and will be replaced by Gabriel Heinze.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-1-2): Stekelenburg – Rosi, Burdisso, Heinze, Jose Angel – Simplicio, De Rossi, Gago – Pjanic – Bojan, Osvaldo.

Palermo started the season in great fashion under inexperienced manager Devis Mangia, with the Rossanero taking 10 points from first 5 Serie A games.

The team have been especially impressive at home, where they beat Inter, Cagliari and Siena, but, on the other hand, they continued to struggle on the travels.

After bringing one point from away games against Atalanta and Lazio, Palermo suffered a heavy defeat to Milan last weekend, and it wasn’t long before club owner Maurizio Zamparini started doubting Devis Mangia’s tactics and style of play.

This is a pretty standard way of conduct for the Palermo president, so nobody in Italy is surprised by his comments, but his recent statements could have a negative effect on the team.

Palermo may not be able to win at Olimpico, but they should manage to score against Roma’s weak back line, so odds of 1.50 (1/2) offered by Sportingbet on Palermo to score do look tempting.

Devis Mangia is expected to revert to 4-3-1-2 formation, with Pinilla and Miccoli set to start up front.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-1-2): Tzorvas – Pisano, Migliaccio, Silvestre, Balzaretti – Barreto, Bacinovic, Della Rocca – Ilicic – Miccoli, Pinilla.

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