Roma vs Parma

Roma will face off at home to Parma at the Stadio Olimpico as week 26 gets underway in Serie A. The giallorossi will be hoping to clear their heads of the frustrating result they obtained in their midweek match away to league leaders Inter Milan, while Parma will be looking to repeat their performance.

The side managed by Nedo Spaletti were playing superbly at the San Siro. Through 90 minutes they had built a 0-1 lead against Inter and were on the verge of trimming their deficit to 6 points. Instead, Roma were punished for failing to convert on their many counter attack chances and wound up settling for a 1-1 draw which leaves them with 52 points, 9 back of first place Inter. They hold a 4 point advantage over 3^rd place Juventus. They had come agonizingly close to finally handing Inter their first loss of the season. Instead they will look to get back on track at home against Parma. Roma will be missing Curci, Panucci and Cassetti to injury while Mexes is out suspended. Look for Juan to spell Mexes while Mancini returns to the left win after sitting out suspended. He will replace the impressive Vucinic who slides over to the bench.

Parma were victorious in their last match as they were able to hold out for a 2-0 win over Udinese. With the victory the side managed by Di Carlo are now in 14^th place of the league table with 25 points on the campaign. This leaves the gialloblu 2 points back of 13^th place Torino and just ahead of Siena. The victory snapped an unbeaten run of 4 matches which had seen Parma draw 3 in a row. This week top scorer Bernardo Corradi will be benched as Parma go with a 4-4-1-1 featuring Gasbarroni- a player in sensational form at this time- and Lucarelli as the lone striker.

It is tough to make a case for Parma in this match. While they are unbeaten on the road in their last 2 matches their overall road record stands at 0 wins, 5 draws and 7 losses. Only Catania and Reggina have failed to win away this year along with Parma. Meanwhile, Roma have lost just 1 match at home to go with 9 wins and 2 draws and they will be extremely focused this week as they need to bounce back from the draw away to Inter. Look for the Roma to take care of business at home.

Prediction: Roma (2-0)