Preview: Cesena-Reggina

By: Dan | August 23rd, 2009

Tomorrow afternoon (2:45 pm ET) it will finally be our turn when Reggina meet newly promoted Cesena.

Not sure what to expect. Never easy to go on the road and Cesena is a decent team, being fresh from their promotion campaign. We’ve looked pretty good in our tune up matches, but this is the real deal now. La Gazzetta dello Sport has grouped Reggina in the “Big 3″ that are in pole position for promotion back to Serie A. The other two, Torino and Lecce, both picked up three points on friday. Now we must do the same.

We will of course be using Novellino’s preferred 4-4-2, which proved to be successful in the Coppa Italia against Arezzo and on the road at Brescia. Two absences remain, Andrea Costa and Santos, as both are still recovering from injuries. New signing Daniele Capelli is ready to play and could be used from the start. He has chosen #27 for his shirt. Also absent will be youth product Daniel Adejo, who is tending to international duty with the Nigeria U-20 team.

Positions are a question mark right now, cause it seems as if several players can be switched between midfield and defense.. but this is what we might see (don’t hold me to this)

Cassano
Lanzaro; Capelli; Valdez; Rizzato
Busce; Carmona; Volpi; Barilla
Bonazzoli; Brienza

Bench: Marino, Camilleri, Cascione, Missiroli, Pagano, N. Viola, A. Viola, Joelson

Cascione and Camilleri are other options in the center of defense. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. The only attacking options off the bench are Joelson and Alessio Viola, so hopefully it doesn’t come down to relying on the bench. We really need to sign another forward.

Cesena will also likely use a 4-4-2, different from their usual 3-5-2 due to several absences. Three of their newest signings will be out, including former Napoli striker Christian Bucchi and Brazilian Guilherme do Prado. 35-year-old Veteran Luigi Piangerelli will play in the center of the midfield, while young 19-year-old Bosnian striker Milan Djuric will play up front. Here is the probable formation for the Bianconeri:

Antonioli
Petras; Volta; Biasi; Lauro
Pedrelli; Piangerelli; De Feudis; Schelotto
Giaccherini; Djuric

Bench: Teodorani, Cusaro, Erba, Castiglia, Giunchi, Righini, Gavoci, Sinigaglia

Prediction: Seahorses 0-1 Reggina. Same as the score against Brescia. I think we have more talent, but it is on the road in front of 10,000 supporters excited that their team is back in Serie B. A draw wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m aiming to take 3 points back to the Granillo. Weekday afternoon matches drive me nuts. I believe this is being shown on SKY, so we will be able to stream it. Gotta be clever if I want to watch it during work.