By Petar Todorovski
The Wolves from Rome face a difficult challenge in 14th week of Italian Serie A. They will be guests on Renzo Barbera, the home turf of European spot seekers Palermo. Roma enjoy wonderful form, it seems that this team can not loose a game. They will enter this game full of confidence after a thrilling second half come back against tough German side Bayern Munich.
Bavarians took the lead easily with two goals from Mario Gomez, but the Lupi never gave up. Marco Borriello took chances early in second half. Romans tried hard to get something from the game and the pressure was worth it. Two goals in three minutes brought the victory, as Daniele De Rossi tapped the ball into goal before captain Francesco Totti scored from penalty kick six minutes before the full time whistle.
Romans are climbing the Serie A table, with impressive unbeaten run. But, things are not so good for them. They still wait for the first victory outside Stadio Olimpico. They have recorded one away, but that was against Lazio on their own turf. More worryingly, they have conceded ten goals while having scored only five. Palermo is sitting in seventh place, leveled with champions Inter. They’re not very convincing at home, winning only three games out of seven.
Roma will have to play against Sicilians without long term injured Taddei, Okaka and Simone Perrotta. Burdisso is also out because of suspension. Palermo will be handicapped due to absence of Pinilla, Liverani, Hernandez and Darmian.
However, Palermo can rely on Javier Pastore. The young wide attacker, recently compared with Lionel Messi, plays an impressive season, drawing attention from Europe’s best and richest clubs. Palermo’s loud President Maurizio Zamparini said that although his team would have the best player on the pitch, both teams play good soccer, so plenty of goals can be expected.
Francesco Totti is expected to start for Roma together with Marco Borriello in Attack, while Jeremy Menez would play just behind them. That means that Montenegrin Mirko Vucinic would have to wait for a chance from the bench.
This game is very difficult to predict. Roma plays better with every new game, but away victories are still to come. While Palermo played very well on home turf last few seasons, this year they are quite unconvincing. They hope that Pastore is going to have his magic moments once again, but it’s questionable if his masterpiece would be enough for three points. With draw the most likely outcome, we can expect very entertaining game with plenty of scoring chances and, I hope, plenty of goals.
