Serie A Preview: Palermo - AC Milan

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Pippo Inzaghi celebrates after scoring in Milan's thrilling UEFA Cup draw with Portsmouth (PA)

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Same Old, Same Old

With Palermo struggling in tenth position in the Serie A table, the pressure is beginning to mount on manager Davide Ballardini. Club president Maurizio Zamparini, surely, must have already begun looking around to see who else is out there.

Zamparini has a penchant for trading managers much in the way a stock broker would treat stocks. Not that it is all Ballardini’s fault, however. While the team has done well at home this season, winning four of their six matches, they have been simply terrible on the road with just a single victory logged so far this campaign.

For the past few seasons, Palermo have run pretty much true to form. You expect them to put up a good fight when playing the northern Italian giants such as AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus, but then they drop down to the level of their opponents when playing sides they should defeat on a regular basis.

Zamparini has pulled the plug on many manager over the years, but to little positive effect. When sitting on the Palermo bench, you would have to think that any manager knows that he should keep his bags packed for when the axe inevitably falls.

Conversely…

As for the managerial position at Milan, it could not be cosier. Sure, there were crisis meetings at the beginning of the season when the side started poorly, but Carlo Ancelotti has been in charge of the Rossoneri since 2001. Whenever questioned about him, the Milan hierarchy always says that they hope to keep Ancelotti in place for the foreseeable future.

When you think about it, Ancelotti doesn’t have too much to worry about. He has a side which is currently in second place, and loaded with stars. They began the season by losing two straight, but have gone undefeated in the eleven matches since that time, winning eight of those encounters.

While Kakà (who is suspended and will not take part in this match) has been his usual brilliant self, Ronaldinho has come in and improved steadily, proving wrong all his doubters. Also, other players who were brought in, like Gianluca Zambrotta and Mathieu Flamini, have done well, with Zambrotta in particular now the first-choice right back.

Not everything is grand for Milan at the moment, however. Their road form is worrying, as they’ve scored six goals and given up six goals in six away matches. In several of those matches, they have looked lackadaisical and had no impetus to really take hold of the match.

This could definitely be said for their 2-2 draw away to Portsmouth in the UEFA Cup on Thursday. Yes, they scored twice and secured advancement into the next round, but they were down 2-0 with less than ten minutes remaining. If not for a beautiful free-kick goal by Ronaldinho and an injury time strike from Filippo Inzaghi, they would have been sent packing with their heads hanging for sure.

FORM GUIDE

Palermo

29/10 (Serie A): Lecce 1-1 Palermo

02/11 (Serie A): Palermo 3-0 Chievo

08/11 (Serie A): Torino 1-0 Palermo

15/11 (Serie A): Palermo 0-2 Inter Milan

23/11 (Serie A): Bologna 1-1 Palermo

Milan

02/11 (Serie A): Milan 1-0 Napoli

06/11 (UEFA Cup): Milan 1-0 Braga

09/11 (Serie A): Lecce 1-1 Milan

16/11 (Serie A): Milan 1-0 Chievo

23/11 (Serie A): Torino 2-2 Milan

TEAM NEWS

Palermo

The home side comes into this match with a full squad. They have no suspended players and no injuries either.

Possible Formation (4-4-2): Amelia; Cassani, Carrozzieri, Bovo, Balzaretti; Nocerino, Liverani, Bresciano, Simplicio; Cavani, Miccoli

Milan

The Rossoneri are without Alessandro Nesta and Marco Borriello, both through injury. Also, Kakà is suspended for the amount of yellow cards he has received.

Massimo Ambrosini, Gennaro Gattuso, Kakhaber Kaladze and Daniele Bonera are facing suspension should they be cautioned in this match.

Possible Formation (4-3-2-1): Abbiati; Zambrotta, Bonera, Maldini, Jankulovski; Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Seedorf, Ronaldinho; Pato

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Palermo

Fabrizio Miccoli, the club’s leading scorer this season, loves to play against the big sides, and Milan is no exception. He will attempt to be at his best when Milan come to town this Sunday. Also, look out for Edison Cavani, who is steadily improving alongside Miccoli in attack.

Milan

With Kakà suspended, Ronaldinho will be pulling the strings in attack. It will be interesting to see how he fares without Kakà out there, as they have recently been playing well together.

PREDICTION

Milan will be looking to improve and do better than they have on their travels this season, but Palermo have played well at home this term. The Milan defense is averaging one goal conceded per away match, but they will be able to keep Miccoli and co. off the score-sheet.

Palermo 0-1 Milan

Joel Whitehead

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