Serie A Preview: Parma vs Juventus – Team News, Line-ups & Prediction | OneFootball

Stadio Ennio Tardini sets the stage for a high-stakes Serie A encounter between relegation-battling Parma and top-four hopefuls Juventus. The match, initially scheduled for Monday, was postponed following the sudden passing of Pope Francis.

Parma, like Juventus, have become synonymous with stalemates this season. The hosts held Fiorentina to a scoreless draw last weekend at Artemio Franchi to make it five league draws on the trot. It’s the second time this season that Cristian Chivu’s men have strung together a run of 4+ draws.

That unbeaten streak, though lackluster, has steered Parma three points clear of 18th-placed Venezia. With a game in hand, the hosts look in a decent position to stave off immediate relegation but cannot take anything for granted as the season enters the business end. Given the circumstances, the Crusaders would probably sign in for another point.

Juventus (14) head into proceedings as the only team in Italy’s top flight to have collected more stalemates than Parma (13) this season. Therefore, another share of the spoils would hardly surprise anyone, yet the visitors cannot settle for anything less than three points after Bologna stunned Inter last weekend.

Igor Tudor’s charges trail the fourth-placed Rossoblu by a point, highlighting the importance of winning today. But if a 2-2 draw in this season’s reverse fixture was anything to go by, Juventus know better than to underestimate a gritty Parma side fighting tooth and nail to avoid the drop.

Match Preview

Parma

Despite their nasty habit of sharing the spoils, Parma have been outstanding on home turf, stagging several upsets this season. In addition to beating Milan at the start of the campaign, they held title-bidding Inter to a 2-2 draw a fortnight ago. That result forms part of Parma’s three-game unbeaten home streak in Serie A (W1, D2).

Furthermore, Chivu’s charges were lethal in front of goal during that stretch, netting precisely twice on each occasion. Though prone to slow starts, Parma have been phenomenal down the final stretches, with only Lazio (18) scoring more goals beyond the 76th minute than Parma’s 14 this season.

Beating Juventus could be a tall order for Parma, not least because they’ve lost their last three league matches on this ground, including a 4-0 humbling in their most recent duel in December 2020. However, they’ve excelled at Tardini this term, avoiding defeat in six of their eight home league games against teams starting this round in the top half (W3, D3, L2).

Juventus

Tudor, who replaced Thiago Motta at the helm, is keen to earn a permanent contract in Turin. His interim tenure has been off to a decent start, with a 2-1 home triumph against Lecce last time out making it three consecutive unbeaten league matches at the beginning of his Turin experience (W2, D1).

Moreover, Juventus have gone from strength to strength against the division’s bottom-half opposition. Indeed, the visitors haven’t lost any of their last 18 league clashes against clubs from Serie A’s lower reaches (W12, D6). But with Bologna a point away, they’ll need to extend that intimidating run with a win at Tardini.

Despite their indifferent traveling record in Serie A this season (W6, D7, L2), Juventus can take confidence from their imperious road record against ‘low-profile’ rivals. Each of their six away league victories this season came against bottom-half opponents, suggesting Tudor is in a perfect position to register his first win outside Turin.

Team News

Injury-hit Parma remain without Yordan Osorio, Adrian Benedyczak, Valentin Mihaila, Gabriel Charpentier, and Mateusz Kowalski, while Matteo Cancellieri has yet to regain full fitness. Still, Chivu has welcomed Pontus Almqvist back from suspension, though the Swede will likely start on the bench.

On the other hand, Juventus will be without long-term absentees Arkadisuz Milik, Gleison Bremer, and Juan Cabal. Unfortunately for Tudor, Teun Koopmeiners has joined Samuel Mbangula and Federico Gatti on the sidelines, derailing his attacking options ahead of this must-win challenge.

Parma vs Juventus Potential Starting Line-ups

Parma (3-5-2): Suzuki; Vogliacco, Leoni, Valenti; Del Prato, Bernabe, Keita, Sohm, Valeri; Pellegrino, Bonny

Juventus (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Veiga, Kelly; Weah, Locatelli, Thuram, McKennie; Gonzalez, Conceicao; Vlahovic

Parma vs Juventus Prediction

Two scoring blanks across their last three league outings paint a grim picture for Parma. Juventus haven’t been synonymous with high-scoring events either but should still grab three points on sheer firepower. A narrow 1-0 scoreline could determine this high-stakes meeting in Emilia-Romagna.