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

Stadio Ennio Tardini sets the stage for a high-stakes Serie A showdown between relegation-battling Parma and title-bidding Inter. Both teams desperately need three points in this fixture, albeit for contrasting purposes.

Parma failed to mark last weekend’s landmark occasion against Hellas Verona in style. Indeed, a scoreless draw at Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi was hardly a fitting way to celebrate their 1000th match in Serie A, leaving Cristian Chivu’s side only three points clear of the bottom three.

With six of Parma’s last eight league games coming against current top-eight teams, hopes of avoiding an immediate relegation look bleak. However, the hosts have fared reasonably well under Chivu, going unbeaten in four of his first five Serie A outings in charge (W1, D3), though the last three have ended level.

Another stalemate would be massive for Parma as they take on defending champions Inter. Fatigue could be a problem for the visitors following an exhausting 1-1 draw against fierce rivals Milan in midweek Coppa Italia action. That’s not to mention they have another distraction troubling their minds ahead of this trip.

Simone Inzaghi’s charges will meet Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie next week. But with second-placed Napoli only three points behind, Inter cannot afford to take this meeting lightly despite being heavily fancied to take home another precious victory.

Match Preview

Parma

Chivu was part of Inter’s treble-winning squad under Jose Mourinho in 2010. However, he must put his feelings aside to inspire Parma to their first league triumph against the Nerazzurri since September 2018. The Crusaders have since lost five of their seven top-flight matches against this opposition (D2), including a 3-1 defeat in December’s reverse fixture.

Despite facing long odds and ominous tradition, Parma can draw heart from their resilient home performances this season. For context, four of their five wins in Serie A this term have come on this ground, including a scintillating 2-1 victory against Inter’s arch-rivals Milan in September.

Furthermore, they’ve recently defied their scoring woes to bag precisely twice across their last two home league outings en route to four points against Torino (2-2) and Bologna (2-0). Against this backdrop, they’ve lost all three home encounters against Inter since 2019, averaging 0.66 goals per game.

Inter

Hakan Calhanoglu’s stunning equalizer against Milan helped Inter extend their admirable unbeaten run in all competitions to seven matches (W7, D2). More importantly, Inzaghi’s men remain in pole position to become the first Scudetto holders to defend their title in five years, keeping runners-up Napoli at arm’s length.

With several first-team stars missing through injury, Inter must not underestimate the size of the task awaiting them this weekend as they seek a fourth consecutive league win. Adding to this sentiment, their last three league victories at Ennio Tardini have come via a single-goal margin, suggesting this won’t be plain sailing for the runaway leaders.

There’s more reason for skepticism among the traveling fans as Inter have only won once on their last five Serie A road trips (D2, L2), scoring one goal or fewer in each winless outing. A flying start would help, and the visitors seem more than capable of pulling it off, having kept a league-high 20 first-half clean sheets this term.

Team News

Adrian Benedyczak, Alessandro Circati, Gabriel Charpentier, Yordan Osorio, and Valentin Mihaila are unavailable for selection in the Parma camp. Furthermore, Matteo Cancellieri might stay on the sidelines for a third week straight. On the bright side, Hernani is back from a one-game ban.

Meanwhile, Inter will take this trip without star wingback Denzel Dumfries and Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski. Lautaro Martinez should be back from injury, but this clash comes too soon for Mehdi Taremi. After staying on the bench against Milan, Federico Dimarco will return to the starting XI.

Parma vs Inter Potential Starting Line-ups

Parma (4-3-3): Suzuki; Del Prato, Vogliacco, Valenti, Valeri; Hernani, Bernabe, Sohm; Man, Bonny, Almqvist.

Inter (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Frattesi, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Arnautovic, Thuram.

Parma vs Inter Prediction

Though far from their usual best, Inter should still find a way to victory in Emilia-Romagna. However, it won’t be straightforward, with Parma capable of giving their most esteemed visitors a run for their money.