Fiorentina vs Palermo Italian Serie A live stream Preview 12 May 2013
Palermo in the other side, Palermo has slight chances to avoid relegation. 4 points are maybe too far away and against topper teams it might be hard to reach.
Last time these two teams played against each other, Fiorentina took convincing 3-0 victory on Palermo home stadion. I expect same kind of result to come here. Expected result; 2-0, 3-0.
Fiorentina (4th W19 D7 L10)
Fiorentina condemned local rivals Siena to almost certain relegation with their 1-0 win at the Stadio Artemio Franchi thanks to a strike from Gonzalo Rodriguez.
The win secures Fiorentina’s presence in the Europa League, but the Viola fans would have wanted more. However, the 0-1 home defeat to AS Roma was decisive in their chase for the third spot.
Montella’s side has the chance to condemn another team to relegation as 18th placed Palermo will visit them on Sunday. The Sicilians need a victory to keep their chances alive, but I’m sure Fiorentina will have other plans.
Fiorentina’s second best scorer Adam Ljajic will sit this one out as he’s suspended and so will injured midfielder Alberto Aquilani who’ll be replaced by Fernandez.
Palermo (18th W6 D14 L16)
Palermo had a good chance to stay in touch with Genoa, but in-form Udinese inflicted their second consecutive defeat after the one against champions Juventus and the Sicilians are now with one foot in Serie B.
The Sicilians showed a lot of determination equalizing twice, but Mehdi Benatia’s 83th minute finish saw Palermo slump to a defeat which leaves them four points from safety with two games left.
It is mission impossible for Palermo from now on, they have to pick up all points in Firenze after having failed to win 21 of their last 22 away games in Serie A and will need Genoa to pick up not more than one point in their remaining games.
Palermo will travel to Firenze without midfielder Edgar Barreto, but Donati is back after serving a one match suspension and will take his place in the Rosanero midfield.
The Betting Verdict
This is Fiorentina’s last home match of the season, so they’ll want to leave a positive impression (if that is still possible after failing to secure a podium finish) with a win over strugglers Palermo.
Palermo on the other hand will have to go all out for a victory, but what’s frustrating is that they can say still relegate at the end of this round even in the unlikely event of a win in Firenze if other results go against them.
The odds are quite short for the home win if we assume that the motivation factor will play an important role in this game, as I mentioned before Palermo are playing with their backs against the wall.
Fiorentina holds a solid home record, but Palermo has not lost any of their last seven games by more than a goal, they’ve actually only lost two of their last 18 games by a two or more goal margin (against Napoli and Milan).
Therefore, I’ll back Palermo to keep this close and say goodbye to Serie A with their honor intact
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