Parma host Lazio on Sunday at the Stadio Ennio Tardini with both clubs coming into the game in bad form.
Parma are bottom of Serie A, five points from safety after a disastrous start to the campaign. They have lost eleven of their thirteen league games this and unless there is a dramatic turnaround they will find themselves back in Serie B for the first time since the 2008/09 season.
Parma have won just one of their last ten games although that win was an impressive 2-0 win over Internazionale. They lost the other nine games in that run including a 7-0 defeat to the defending champions, Juventus. Defensively they have been terrible, conceding thirty-two goals in thirteen games. The next worst team have conceded twenty-four and ten teams have conceded sixteen goals or less.
Parma have had injury problems and will be without Jonathan Biabiany, Mattia Cassani, Gabriel Paletta, Massimo Coda and Abdelkar Ghezzal. Felipe also misses out due to suspension. Antonio Cassano has been in good form for Parma with five goals and two assists. Another encouraging sign for the Gialloblu has been the emergence of eighteen year old midfielder, Jose Mauri. He has been excellent at times and looks to have a bright future ahead of him.
Lazio made an excellent start to the season but one win in their last five games has saw them fall to seventh, three points behind Napoli in the race for Champions League football. They have won just two of their seven away games and will need to improve on that if they are going to be serious contenders in the race for European football next season.
The Biancocelesti will be without Santiago Gentiletti, Michael Ciani, Bruno Pereirinha and Antonio Candreva for this game. Candreva will be a huge loss for Lazio as he has been the spark behind most of their attacking moves and has two goals and seven assists this season. Filip Djordjevic has scored six goals but will find it more difficult without Candreva creating openings for him.
Neither side will be happy with their current form but Lazio look the more likely to turn things around and claim the three points. However, they will struggle without Candreva and Parma will be desperate to avoid slipping further behind and might just be able to cause an upset.
Probable Lineups
Parma - Mirante; Santacroce, Lucarelli, Costa; Ristovski, Mauri, Lodi, Acquah, Gobbi; Cassano, Palladino.
Lazio - Marchetti; Cavanda, de Vrij, Radu, Braafheid; Parolo, Biglia, Lulic; Anderson, Djordjevic, Mauri.