Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Serie A clash between Parma and Bologna, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Winless in four Serie A matches, Parma host sixth-placed Bologna at Stadio Ennio Tardini in Sunday’s gameweek 10 fixture, aiming to secure consecutive wins in the Derby dell’Emilia for the first time since 2012.
The Crociati are three places and two points above the relegation zone, while the in-form Rossoblu could climb into the division’s top four with maximum points and favourable results elsewhere.
Match preview
After consecutive clean sheets, Parma were always fighting a losing battle travelling to joint-leaders Roma during the week, and they came unstuck in the capital in Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat.
That loss means that the Yellow and Blues have failed to win in four top-flight matches since a 2-1 victory over Torino at the end of September, a run now reaching a month of league action.
A key challenge for Carlos Cuesta’s team is Parma’s inability to score regularly this season, with their two goals against Torino making up half of the team’s four strikes this term.
Having failed to score in three of their four winless matches — two draws, two losses — another goalless match against Sunday’s opponents could see Parma slipping into the bottom three, with 18th-placed Hellas Verona and second-bottom Fiorentina two and three points behind the 15th-placed Crociati.
Supporters at the Tardini will hope for a repeat of the corresponding fixture last season, when their team defeated Bologna 2-0 in February, but that would mean securing back-to-back wins over the Rossoblu for the first time since victories in May and December 2012.
Vincenzo Italiano‘s men aim to avoid that outcome against their regional rivals and move on from last season’s Emilian derby, when they failed to score.
The 2-0 loss at the Tardini followed a goalless draw at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, but the Rossoblu’s form points to a different result on Sunday.
Effectively at opposite ends of the form table, Bologna sit fourth over the past five rounds, while Parma are 14th in the same period.
However, the Felsinians will be aware of their mixed away results, which include one win, two draws and two defeats after five road games.
Their three-match unbeaten run on the road has followed two 1-0 defeats to Roma and AC Milan, but Italiano’s team have since netted two in each of their 2-2 draws with Lecce and Fiorentina, either side of a 2-0 win over Cagliari.
Considering that Parma have scored the joint-fewest goals (four) in Serie A, Bologna will back themselves to score enough to secure only their second away win of the season and fifth overall.
With both Milan clubs in third and fourth on 18 points, and Como on 16, Bologna, with 15 points, could end the round in the coveted Champions League spots; however, victory is essential, and results in other games will need to go their way for that to happen.
Parma Serie A form:
Parma form (all competitions):
Bologna Serie A form:
Bologna form (all competitions):
Team News
Parma have several injury concerns, with Matija Frigan (knee), Jacob Ondrejka (ankle), Mandela Keita (knee), Gaetano Oristanio (muscle) and Emanuele Valeri (ankle) all sidelined.
Only Mateo Pellegrino has scored more than one goal for the Crociati this season, and the forward aims to add to his two league strikes on Sunday.
Bologna will welcome back Emil Holm after the defender served a one-match ban following his red card against Fiorentina.
Having sustained no apparent injuries in the draw with Torino, Bologna’s only absentee remains Ciro Immobile, who is out due to a thigh problem.
With Federico Bernardeschi and Thijs Dallinga not providing the decisive contributions expected, Italiano is likely to reinstate Riccardo Orsolini and Santiago Castro into the team to avoid a third consecutive league game without victory.
Parma possible starting lineup:
Suzuki; Prato, Circati, Ndiaye, Britschgi; Bernabe, Estevez, Sorensen, Ordonez; Pellegrino, Cutrone
Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Holm, Heggem, Lucumi, Miranda; Freuler, Moro; Orsolini, Odgaard, Dominguez; Castro
We say: Parma 1-2 Bologna
Given Bologna’s scoring run away from home, Italiano will hope to benefit from Orsolini’s expected return to the Rossoblu team.
With Parma struggling in the attack, the sixth-placed visitors will back themselves to win the Emilian derby and put last season’s 2-0 defeat in this fixture behind them.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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