Match Preview :

New Novara Coach Emiliano Mondonico makes his return to football a year after he was diagnosed with cancer and will hope that he can cause an upset over Chievo in this match.

Coach Mondonico quit his job at Serie B side Albinoleffe a year ago in order to battle cancer and was declared free of the disease in late November. The former Atalanta and Torino boss is back in the reckoning as Novara sacked Attilio Tesser this week despite him bringing the club into Serie A for the first time in 55 years.

That was due to poor results after four consecutive defeats in which they scored once and conceded 11 times. They also have the worst defence in the League after conceding an amazing 40 goals in 20 games.

For the record, Mondonico has not coached a Serie A club since he was fired by Fiorentina at the start of the 2004-05 campaign so he will not have much experience with a Serie A side after such a long absence.

Chievo comes into this match after defeats to Siena in the Coppa Italia and also losing 3-0 at home in Serie A to Lazio. They will need to win in order to restore confidence quickly. Prior to those defeats, they had only lost once in the previous Serie A matches.

Team News :

Novara Team News :
Carlalberto Ludi, Matteo Centurioni and Francesco Marianini, but welcomes back Andrea Lisuzzo for at least a place on the bench.

Alex Pinardi is on loan with Vicenza for the rest of the season so he will no longer play in the side.

January signings Giuseppe Mascara and Andrea Caracciolo are expected to start up front with Marco Rigoni in support, maintaining the 3-4-1-2 system.

Chievo Team News :
Coach Domenico Di Carlo does not have any injuries to contend with so they have a full side at their disposal and will want to make Coach Emiliano Mondonico debut an unhappy one.

Possible lineups

Novara : Ujkani; Dellafiore, Rinaudo, Paci; Morganella, Radovanovic, Porcari, Garcia; Rigoni; Mascara, Caracciolo

Chievo Sorrentino; Sardo, Andreolli, Cesar, Jokic; Luciano, Bradley, Sammarco; Thereau; Paloschi, Pellissier

Predictions

Go for Chievo to get the win here and inflict the fifth straight defeat for Novara in this match.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Novara 0-1 Chievo

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Go for Chievo to get the win here.

HANDICAP BETTING :

On LEVEL BALL go for Chievo AH+0 not to get beaten here. Stakes are returned in the event of a draw.

Pinnacle Sports offers at 2.05