Siena-Livorno, 420th Tuscan Derby Of The Season !

By: Marco | November 10th, 2007

*Cliché Alert: The Siena game is a must win for Livorno, a crucial clash, another 6 point game for the fellow Tuscan Serie A strugglers, battle of bottom dwellers and it’s a basement battle against a direct relegation adversary. Now that we’ve got all these obvious statements out of the way, here are some words about the actual game;

Not only is the 11th of November the day the Haymarket Martyrs were executed, it’s also Tuscan Derby day. Livorno go to Siena on Sunday with the intention of climbing in the standings. Obviously, it’s not one of the sexiest encounters of the weekend but a Derby is a Derby. The last 3 Siena-Livorno derbies have ended in double goose eggs, although both sides have showed they are capable of this

A win would see our favourite burgundy wearing Tuscan squad, equalise Siena with 9 points making the road to safety a little easier. This game is the last one before the International break, so it would be a great thing if Livorno could take the momentum of a Win all thru the brake. The international break will be a perfect time for Camolese to get his players to the level of fitness he deems satisfactory. By the Sampdoria Game, Livorno should be able to count on the fully regenerated Diego Tristan, Giuliano Giannichedda and Jose Vidigal, as well as suspended midfielder Daniele De Vezze. The extra depth and experience these veterans bring to the table will be much welcome. Having these 3 healthy will give GC Camolese more options on the field. Giannichedda brings solid defensive skills to the pitch. The ex-Lazio and Juventus man will provide much needed experience on the field.

However, the Labronici will be welcoming back Francesco Tavano after his last minute withdrawal from the Udinese game. Tavano will try to look like the striker who scored a brace against Parma 3 games back. He will most likely replace Ale Diamanti in the starting line-up on Sunday. Diamanti did play excellently against Udinese, unfortunately not enough to actually score.

We can also count on Big Bad Albanian Sensation Bogdani, who begun last season on the Siena roster. I’m sure he would love to open up his Livorno scoring account against his former employers.Diego Tristan will be sitting on the pine for the second game in a row, providing Camolese with another attacking option.

Camolese has been tinkering with a 3-4-1-2 formation this week. He’s tested out Ale Diamanti as a Trequartista consequently relegating one of the Filippini twins to the bench. There’s a good chance that Camolese tries out this formation if he senses his squad is capable of bringing home 3 points or if we’re a couple of goals down early in the game.

Mr Camels is an overprotective tactician on the defensive side and he’s claiming that he fears the Derby atmosphere as well as the Siena attack, especially on dead balls. Considering that the burgundy boys have so far conceded 22 goals in 11 games, I’d bet good money that Johnny Camels should field sensibly the same squad he did against Udinese last week. The only problem is that if one of the central midfielders goes down during the game, Camolese is lacking options from the bench as no other defensive midfielder is riding the pine and Rezaei doesn’t count as a football player anyways.

Siena (16th Serie A, 9 points) v Livorno (19th Serie A, 6 points)
When?: Sunday, 11th of November
Kick-off 1500 local (CET), 9am for you East coast North Americans
Where?: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Siena
Ref ?: Oscar Girardi
Streams?: maybe here or here

Siena

Teenage phenom Fernando Forestieri, Guadalupi and Vergassola are all not going to enjoy the Tuscan derby. Honestly, i couldn’t care less about Siena

The Montepaschis last 6 games :

Parma - Siena 2 - 2 04/11/2007 SERIE A
Siena - Catania 1 - 1 31/10/2007 SERIE A
Siena - Reggina 0 - 0 28/10/2007 SERIE A
Fiorentina - Siena 3 - 0 21/10/2007 SERIE A
Siena - Empoli 3 - 0 07/10/2007 SERIE A
Cagliari - Siena 1 - 0 30/09/2007 SERIE A

Probable Formation (4-3-1-2):
Eleftheropoulos, Bertotto, Portanova, Loria, Grimi, Jarolim, Galloppa, De Ceglie, Locatelli, Maccarone, Bucchi

Livorno

De Vezze is serving the last day odf his 3 match suspension for stepping on Domenico Morfeo. A. Filippini, F. Volpe, Nico Pulzetti, J. Vidigal and Giannichedda are all ruled out due to injury as well. Knezevic, who has been called up for the Croatia -England clash, is one yellow away from an automatic 1 game suspension.

Probable Formation (3-5-2):

Amelia,
Grandoni, Knezevic, Galante,
Balleri, Bergvold, Loviso, E. Filippini, Pasquale,
Tavano, Bogdani

Bench: De Lucia,Rezaei, Pavan, Alvarez, Rossini, Diego Tristan

Labronici Livornese

Livorno - Udinese 0 - 0 04/11/2007 SERIE A
Reggina - Livorno 1 - 3 31/10/2007 SERIE A
Parma - Livorno 3 - 2 28/10/2007 SERIE A
Livorno - Lazio 0 - 1 21/10/2007 SERIE A
Catania - Livorno 1 - 0 07/10/2007 SERIE A
Livorno - Fiorentina 0 - 3 29/09/2007 SERIE A

Prediction:

I will never predict a Livorno loss, even if it’s an away game and a Derby. I don’t see Siena easily overcoming the Amaranto at home. I’ll have to go with a 3-2 win for Livorno. With goals from Tavano, De Ceglie, Maccarone, Bogdani and the winner coming off Diego Tristan’s foot.
Eternal Enthusiast you say? Why yes indeed, I’m still rooting for Trotski to come back from the dead and take a landslide victory in the upcoming Russian elections.

Forza Livorno!