Palermo will be looking to reduce the gap to just one point between them and their opponents on Sunday, as they prepare to welcome Andrea Stramaccioni and his Udinese side to the Stadio Renzo Barbera for their Serie A clash.
Giuseppe Iachini’s men come into the game in 13th place, and have secured nine points from their last four games in which they have beaten Cesena, Chievo and most recently AC Milan.
The Rosanero will be looking to make it three successive Serie A victories this weekend, a feat they have not achieved since November 2010.
The visitors had caught many people by surprise with their strong start to the campaign but have lost two consecutive games against Fiorentina and Genoa respectively and currently find themselves in 8th place.
The Friulani have had the better of Palermo quite regularly in the past, winning 13 of the 33 meetings the sides have had previously, with the Sicilians claiming 11 victories. The Rosanero have suffered in more recent times against Udinese, too, as they have only picked up two points in the last seven meetings between the sides and not won against Sundays opponents since October 2009.
In 2011, an Antonio Di Natale inspired Udinese inflicted Palermo’s heaviest ever home defeat upon them as the striker scored three in a 7-0 demolition of the Rosanero.
The evergreen 37-year-old has been in fine form already this season and has been directly involved in nine of his side’s last 13 goals, scoring six and assisting three.
Iachini will have slight concerns regarding the fitness of a few of his players, namely Luca Rigoni, Paulo Dybala, Enzo Maresca and Andrea Belotti. However, the only confirmed absentee is Michel Morganella who will miss the game through suspension.
Stramaccioni, on the other hand will have no suspensions to deal with, but will be without the trio of Albert Riera, Gabriel Silva and Zeljko Brkic who are all injured.
Expected Starting XIs
Palermo: Sorrentino; Munoz, Gonzalez, Andelkovic; Pisano, Bolzoni, Rigoni, Barreto, Lazaar; Vazquez, Dybala.
Udinese: Karnezis; Widmer, Heurtaux, Danilo, Piris; Badu, Allan, Guilherme, Fernandes; Muriel, Di Natale.
