Parma vs Sampdoria

Parma face off with Sampdoria at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in week 27 of Serie A. Parma will be trying to bounce back from a humiliating loss away to Roma while Sampdoria were held to a disappointing draw at home.

The gialloblu fell away to Roma by a score of 4-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. The match marked the 2^nd time in 3 matches that Parma have conceded 4 goals in a match. Parma are now in 16^th place of the Serie A table and sit only 1 point ahead of the relegation zone, and 1 point behind 15^th place Livorno. Parma have posted 1 win, 1 loss and 3 draws over their last 5 games. This week the side managed by Di Carlo have just two injury concerns in Morfeo and Mariga. The rest of the squad will be at his disposal and he will be able to go with his standard 4-4-2 featuring Budan and Lucarelli in attack and Zenoni looks set to start at right fullback in place of Coly who will start on the bench.

Sampdoria are in 7^th place of the league table through 26 matches with 36 points. They are 3 points back of 6^th place Udinese and 1 point up on 8^th place Genoa. This leaves them in position to make a decent run at a spot in the UEFA Cup. Last week they played to a 2-2 draw at home to Torino at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris at Marassi. They have produced 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss over their last 5 games. This week it was confirmed that start striker Antonio Cassano received a 5 match suspension for his outburst against the match official in the game at home to Torino. Therefore, Mazzari will go with Bonazzoli and Delvecchio in attack with Ziegler and Maggio on the wings in a 3-5-2 set. Montella, Pieri, Bellucci and Campagnaro are out injured while Sala joins Cassano and will serve suspension this week, albeit for only 1 match.

Parma have not been able to find any consistency at home this season with only 5 wins from 13 matches. Luckily for Parma, Sampdoria have not been any better away from home as they have posted just 3 wins to go with 1 draw and 9 losses. In the case of the blucerchiati it’s either all or nothing when on the road. If Parma are to avoid relegation this year, this is a match they need to win but their awful defensive displays do not inspire much confidence.

Prediction: Draw (1-1)