Juventus vs Parma

Juventus are back at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino following their superb road win over the league leaders in week 30. They will be playing host to a Parma outfit that are in need of every point they can secure as the season enters its home stretch.

Juve are certainly in high sprits this week. In their last match they scored a superb 1-2 victory away to Inter Milan in their derby match at the San Siro. Thanks to the victory the side managed by Claudio Ranieri are now in 3^rd place of Serie A with 58 points on the present campaign. They are now 6 points back of 2^nd place AS Roma and 5 up on 4^th place Fiorentina. The vecchia signora have now extended their unbeaten run to 4 games with 3 wins over that stretch. In addition, they have conceded just 1 goal over those 4 matches. Part of the reason for Juventus resurgence of late has been their improved health overall. This week Zebina and Palladino are out so Salihamidzic will be taking over at the right fullback position. David Trezeguet is slowly finding the touch and banged home his 17^th goal last week.

Parma came up losers in their match under new Argentine manager Hector Cuper. The gialloblu fell by a score of 2-0 to Siena at the Mps Arena. With the loss Parma are 15^th in the Serie A table with 29 points. This leaves them 2 points back of 14^th place Torino but only 1 point ahead of Cagliari and the relegation zone. Therefore, they must tread very carefully. Over their past 5 matches they have posted just 1 win to go along with 3 losses and 1 draw. 5 players have been ruled out this week and that includes Coly, Pisanu, Parravicini and Morfeo while Lucarelli is out suspended. Cuper has been toying with going with a 4-3-2-1 formation for the away day to Juve so as to reinforce the midfield with players than can win the ball back such as Morrone, Mariga and Cigarini. Budan will play as the lone striker with Gasbarroni and Reginaldo just behind him.

It’s asking a lot for Parma to come out of this match with points. Juventus seem to be hitting their stride at just the right moment and are coming off of one of their biggest games of the season where they handed Inter Milan just their second loss of the year. Parma have yet to win a single match away from home having posted just 6 draws in 15 matches. If Ranieri can keep Juve focused and avoid overlooking Parma, Juve should have no problems.

Prediction: Juventus (1-0)