Analysis: The Secret to Being... Ahead

Fierce awareness of their own means and overflowing athletic condition: these are two of the pillars on which Pippo Inzaghi's Pisa has built an exhilarating season. The Nerazzurri team, when they manage to show off their football made of verticality, search for the goal and aggression of the opposing ball carriers, resembles a steamroller that is difficult to contain. These peculiarities are especially evident at home: on the pitch of the Arena, Sporting Club has shown off several times in performances that will make your hands swell. This is evidenced by the 30 points out of 36 overall earned in the 12 home games played. And Adrian Rus also confirmed it at the end of the victorious away game in Palermo: "When we manage to take the lead first, we almost always manage to win".

The trend of the home matches confirms this: in 10 out of 12 occasions Pisa broke the deadlock first, taking home 9 victories. The only exception was the match against Cosenza, in which Inzaghi's men suffered a double comeback by the Calabrians, ending the match at 2-2. The only rival capable of breaking the deadlock first in front of the Pisan crowd was Spezia, in the championship debut: the Ligurians rose to 0-2 before suffering the comeback signed by Tourè and Canestrelli. From this point of view, the antennae of the team led by Inzaghi will have to remain well straight, because since the beginning of the cadet tournament Cittadella has managed to break the deadlock first in 6 of the 12 away matches played: from this starting position, the Granata have achieved 5 successes and only one slip-up. The Paduan club, therefore, despite a rather marked defensive fragility - they have conceded 21 goals away from home, worse so far only Sampdoria and Mantova have done, with 24 and 23 goals conceded respectively -, has a good organization and the experience necessary to bring home important results. The overall haul of 16 points obtained away from the "Tombolato" is proof of this. On the other hand, in 7 away games the team coached by Dal Canto has conceded the first goal: in these cases Cittadella has always faced defeat, with the exception of one occasion in which they managed to overturn the partial, closing with a victory. BUT