Midfielder Fiorentina Mario Santana ingin mengawali tahun baru ini dengan kemenangan untuk Fiorentina, melanjutkan performa baik la Viola tahun 2008 lalu dimana terakhir Fiorentina meraih kemenangan 1 – 0 dengan Sampdoria dan berada di posisi 4 klasemen.
“We have some difficult games ahead of us. However, the work undertaken in the last few weeks should allow us to pick up where we left off, with the win over Sampdoria. Now I hope we can repeat the achievements we made during the last season. Personally, I would like to score more goals and help the team with my assists. I think we will see a fit Fiorentina with real desire take to the pitch on Sunday. I don’t think the break has unbalanced us in anyway. All the lads have worked hard and have been looking to make selection difficult for the coach. I have not seen anyone hold back.”
Namun san striker Adrian Mutu mengingatkan untuk tidak mengecilkan laga melawan Lecce besok.
“We want to remain in the Champions League places, even if it will be harder than in previous years. If we are able to do so it will prove we have made that jump in quality. However, for now we must concentrate on Lecce. We don’t want to drop any points along the way.”
Cesare Prandelli akan memainkan Marco Donadel untuk menggantikan posisi Riccardo Montolivo yang suspended. Sementara Martin Jorgensen tidak bisa diturunkan Prandelli karena masih dalam recovery cederanya.
Sementara itu Lecce akan berusaha menghentikan rekor buruk 9 kekalahan dimusim ini. Pelatih Mario Beretta akan memainkan 4 – 3 – 3 dengan menempatkan Simone Tiribocchi dan Fabio Caserta untuk menemani Jose Castillo di tengah. Midfielder Andrea Zanchetta memiliki komentar tentang strategi pelatihnya ini.
“It is a formation that allows us to get more men forward and into the opposition penalty area. However, it can be a demanding system as you cannot afford to be caught with three men forward. On Sunday it will be nice to measure ourselves against an important team like Fiorentina. They have some key individual players and have a lot of attacking quality.”
Komentar Zanchetta senada dengan Tiziano Polenghi yang tak sabar untuk bermain lagi setelah libur natal dan tahun baru.
” The restart to the championship puts us up against a difficult side. Fiorentina are enjoying a good season as demonstrated by their position in the table. I don’t think we need pay any particular attention to any individual players as we must be wary of the team as a whole. However, we just need to ensure we play calmly and look to put in a good performance. Only through good performances will we gain the points we need.”
Bereta tidak bisa memainkan Guglielmo Stendardo yang suspended demikian halnya dengan Zanchetta yang masih menderita cedera.
Statistik :
