Posted on Saturday, 11th February 2012 by Sumeet Paul

Davide Ballardini is boosted by the return of talismanic playmaker Andrea Cossu after his one-match suspension, while long term absentees Eriksson, Nene and Rui Sampaio remain on the sidelines. The Rossoblu’s last home game was a 4-2 win over Roma, and with yet to win away from home this season, scoring just six goals and conceding 18, the home fans will be hopeful of another three points.

Stat: came out 3-1 winners in the corresponding fixture last season, while Palermo haven’t won at the Stadio Sant’Elia since 2005.

Palermo are unbeaten in their last four, but their away form remains a problem, with only bottom of the table Novara faring worse on the road. Giulio Migliaccio has now returned to training with the squad, but is likely to start from the bench on Saturday night, while Abel Hernandez has also recovered from injury. Fabrizio Miccoli has four goals in his last two games, but will be a huge miss this weekend after he was ruled out with injury. Bortolo Mutti will undoubtedly be looking to the rest of the squad to cope in the absence of his inspirational captain.

Stat; The Rosanero have scored thirteen goals in their last four games, with Miccoli taking his tally up to 10 for the season, while he also has 10 assists.

Probable Line-ups:

Cagliari (4-3-1-2): Agazzi, Pisano, Canini, Astori, Agostini, Dessena, Conti, Nainggolan, Cossu, Thiago Ribeiro, Pinilla

Subs; Avramov, Ariaudo, Perico, Ceppelini, Ekdal, Ibarbo, El Kabir

Palermo (4-3-1-2): Viviano, Pisano, Silvestre, Mantovani, Balzaretti, Bertolo, Donati, Barreto, Zahavi, Ilicic, Budan

Subs; Tzorvas, Munoz, Aguirregaray, Acquah, Migliaccio, Vazquez, Mehmeti

Form Guide:

Cagliari: DWLDD

15/01/12 – Juventus 1-1 Cagliari

22/01/12 – Cagliari 0-0 Fiorentina

29/01/12 – Milan 3-0 Cagliari

01/02/12 – Cagliari 4-2 Roma

05/02/12 – Novara 0-0 Cagliari

Palermo: WDWWL

15/01/12 – Chievo 1-0 Palermo

22/01/12 – Palermo 5-3 Genoa

29/01/12 – Palermo 2-0 Novara

01/02/12 – Inter 4-4 Palermo

05/02/12 – Palermo 2-1 Atalanta

Top Scorers:

Cagliari;

Thiago Ribeiro – 4

Conti – 3

Palermo;

Miccoli – 10

Budan – 4

Assists:

Cagliari;

Cossu – 4

Conti – 3

Palermo;

Miccoli – 10

Ilicic – 5

Head-to-Head:

21/09/11 – Palermo 3-2 Cagliari

16/01/11 – Cagliari 3-1 Palermo

29/08/10 – Palermo 0-0 Cagliari

18/04/10 – Cagliari 2-2 Palermo

06/12/09 – Palermo 2-1 Cagliari

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Author Sumeet Paul  (53 Posts)


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