PARMA

League position: 19th
Head coach: Roberto D'Aversa
Serie A top-scorer: Juraj Kucka (6)

RECENT FORM

Parma: L D D L D
Roma: W L W W W

Parma - who won’t have D'Aversa on the bench or top-scorer Kucka available on Sunday due to suspension - have had a dismal time of things this season and have now gone 17 games without a league win (D7, L10) since their 2-1 victory at Genoa on Matchday 9.

It means they have the longest current winless run of any side across Europe’s top-five leagues, with Sunday’s hosts still six points adrift of safety and in desperate need of a rapid turnaround of increasingly miraculous proportions.

As for the Giallorossi, their win over Shakhtar in midweek puts them in a strong position going into next week’s last-16 second leg in the Europa League, while back-to-back league wins over Fiorentina and Genoa have also reestablished their top-four spot.

And that’s despite a series of injuries arising within the squad, although the Roma defence now looks back to full strength and Edin Dzeko is back in contention having made the bench in midweek.

LAST MEETING

DANGER MAN
Giuseppe Pezzella

With Kucka suspended, Joshua Zirkzee and Andreas Cornelius both injured and January signing Graziano Pelle short of match sharpness, it’s difficult to see where Parma’s goals will come from this weekend.

Former Roma man Gervinho will likely lead the line alongside Yann Karamoh, and they will be looking to Pezzella to feed them with ammunition.

The 23-year-old performs a similar role to Leonardo Spinazzola in Fonseca’s side; providing width and an attacking craft from the left.

Pezzella has four assists to his name in Serie A this season and he will be hoping to keep either Rick Karsdorp or Bruno Peres busy in defence and quiet in attack in what will be an intriguing battle on that side of the pitch.

MATCH STATS

The Giallorossi have won eight of their previous 10 top flight meetings with Parma (W8, D1, L1), scoring at least twice in each of those victories.

Meanwhile, the Gialloblu have both been beaten the most times in Serie A and conceded the largest number of goals against Roma.

The hosts did win the last match between these two at the Ennio Tardini, however Parma have not gone back-to-back on home soil against Roma since victories in 1990 and 1993.

Only Inter Milan (10) and Sampdoria (9) have found the back of the net from corners on more occasions than Roma (8) this term, while Parma have conceded the second-most (7) goals from corner-kicks.

Parma have also been on the receiving end of more headed goals than any other team in the league in 2020-21 so far, which will leave one Roma man licking his lips...

PLAYER STATS

• Gianluca Mancini has scored the joint-most headers (four) in 2020-21, alongside Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo.
  
• Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been involved in four goals (three goals and one assist) in his two Serie A appearances against Parma.
  
• Gervinho played 88 times for the Giallorossi and scored 26 goals during a three-year spell in the capital, where he scored once and was unbeaten in four games against Parma (W3, D1).
  
• Roberto Inglese has been directly involved in four goals in his last four Serie A games against Roma (three goals and one assist), although his last goal in the Italian top-flight was back in August 2020 against Lecce.

WHAT THEY SAID

“Serie A does not allow for distractions, we have to change our attitude and find the right approach.”

- Parma coach D’Aversa after their 3-3 draw with Fiorentina last weekend