The preview;

By: Mostafa | April 25th, 2009

It’s that time again for the do or die part of the season, this is the part of the season where fans love and fear, it can bring great glory or utter destruction. And this is what i have managed to gather from various sources:

Chievo Will Not Play For A Draw Against Udinese – Domenico Di Carlo
“The win against Siena was very important – it gave us more awareness about our strength,” the former Parma coach declared to the Corriere dello Sport.

“We are close to achieving a feat, or at least, we feel closer to our goal. We have trust in ourselves and we don’t start with the aim of achieving a draw.

“To remain calm, we need mathematical certainty and we don’t have it yet. To reach it will need a lot of work and the same mentality that allowed us to prove wrong those who thought we were doomed.”

Goal.com Preview :

Flying Towards Safety

The Chievo Verona board must be fully satisfied with their decision to axe Giuseppe Iachini and replace him with Domenico Di Carlo. The ex-Parma tactician has achieved the results necessary and with six matches left they are very close to securing Serie A safety.

In fact, the Flying Donkeys’ are one of the form teams in Italy at the moment, having lost one of their last five and two of their past 15 matches. Those losses were also narrow ones, where Chievo perhaps deserved a better result: a 1-0 defeat to Milan and a last-minute goal by Adrian Mutu against Fiorentina.

The Ceo put in a competent performance against Siena last weekend, winning 2-0 away from home and looking in command for large portions of the match. The side have gelled as a unit with experienced players like Luciano, Giampiero Pinzi and Marco Marcolini putting in hard-working shifts in midfield.

One perplexing aspect of Chievo’s season is that they have been better away from home in 2008-09, only collecting 15 points at the Bentegodi. Therefore, any result is possible when they play Udinese on Saturday.

Prepping For Next Season

The Zebrette have little left to play for this season. They’ve been eliminated from the UEFA Cup, are virtually assured of Serie A survival, and are too low in the standings to qualify for Europe next season. Nonetheless, they put in an impressive performance at the Stadio Friuli last weekend, defeating Fiorentina 3-1 through a goal from starlet Kwadwo Asamoah and a brace from Gaetano D’Agostino.

Perhaps what is motivating the players is that they know with the summer transfer window approaching they are either fighting to earn a move elsewhere or merit a place in the starting XI.

The club do have a remarkable group of youngsters coming through, like the previously mentioned Asamoah, Alexis Sanchez and Mauricio Isla. They may need to display their potential sooner rather than later as stars like Fabio Quagliarella, Gokhan Inler and Cristian Zapata could be gone next season.

Luigi Del Neri is also certain to depart his role as coach of Atalanta and has been linked with a move to Udinese. Thus, Pasquale Marino will be keen to end the campaign on a high note in order to keep his position from being vulnerable.

FORM GUIDE

Chievo

April 19 (Serie A): Siena 0-2 Chievo
April 11 (Serie A): Chievo 0-1 Milan
April 5 (Serie A): Juventus 3-3 Chievo
March 22 (Serie A): Chievo 1-0 Palermo
March 15 (Serie A): Lazio 0-3 Chievo

Udinese

19 April (Serie A): Udinese 3-1 Fiorentina
16 April (UEFA Cup): Udinese 3-3 Werder Bremen
12 April (Serie A): Reggina 0-2 Udinese
9 April (UEFA Cup): Werder Bremen 3-1 Udinese
5 April (Serie A): Udinese 0-1 Inter

TEAM NEWS

Chievo

Coach Di Carlo has a number of injuries to consider, including on-loan striker Stephen Makinwa, Fabio Moro, Kerlon and goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino. The Verona-based side have no suspensions.

Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Squizzi – Sardo, Morero, Yepes, Mantovani – Luciano, Rigoni, Marcolini, Pinzi – Bogdani, Pellissier

Udinese

The Friulani also have no suspensions. However, captain Antonio Di Natale’s ligament damage means he is out for the rest of the season. Long-term absentees Fernando Tissone and Andrea Coda are also not available.

Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Handanovic – Isla, Zapata, Felipe, Lukovic – Inler, D’Agostino, Asamoah – Pepe, Quagliarella, Sanchez

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Chievo

As always, the goals of long-time Flying Donkeys servant Sergio Pellissier will be crucial if his side are to get a result. The 30-year-old scored a brace last week against Siena, bringing his season tally up to 11.

Udinese

Italian international Fabio Quagliarella must shoulder the offensive burden with Di Natale out. He must prove he is worthy of the reported links with Roma and Juventus if he wants to secure a move to a bigger club this summer.

PREDICTION

With both sides having precious little to worry about, they will probably be pleased with a draw. However, there is enough talent on show to excite the fans and any result is possible.

Chievo 2-2 Udinese

A talk with Rigoni and Pinizi

“I have a lot of emotions from Udine that I carry with me. There is a particular climate there, the fans make you feel very important,” recalled the 28-year-old, according to Datasport. “It will be tough, but not impossible [to get a victory].”

Meanwhile, another Chievo midfielder, Luca Rigoni, is also confident his side can achieve a result against the Zebrette.

“In 2009 this has been a completely different Chievo,” praised the former Vincenza player, before speaking about his opponents.

“They are strong in attack, as they have players from the national team in that department. We will do everything possible to earn all three points as we know we are close to achieving survival.”

BTW we beat this team 1-0 last time so why not beat them today!
Chievo are currently in 16th place with 34 points from 32 games played, eight points above the relegation zone with only six league matches remaining.
Let’s do it!