Serie A | Gameweek 21

Jan 19, 2025 at 2pm UK

Stadio Ennio Tardini

Parma vs Venezia

Match preview

After beating relegation rivals Monza to end the year on a high and then holding Torino to a goalless draw at the start of January, Parma suffered their fourth defeat in six games last weekend as they went home empty-handed from Genoa.

The hosts scored the only goal of the game midway through the second half at the Stadio Ferraris when captain Enrico Del Prato deflected Morten Frendrup's shot past a stranded Zion Suzuki and into the top corner.

The result keeps the Gialloblu just above the bottom three in a tightly-packed bottom half of the Serie A table.

Having won two of their last three games at the Tardini - as many as they have won in the previous 24 - the Rossoneri return to their home ground looking to continue that trend against a side who followed them up from the second tier last season.

With Parma having failed to score in three of their last four matches, head coach Fabio Pecchia will be keen to exploit the visitors' weakness from set-pieces. While his side have scored the most goals from corners in Serie A this term - six so far, level with Inter Milan and Udinese - they have conceded the most (seven).

Unbeaten in seven top-flight meetings with the Venetians, the last five of which they won, history will be on their side.

Given their dismal record against Parma, it is perhaps unsurprising that Venezia have taken just one point from three top-flight visits to the Stadio Tardini.

They were also beaten 2-1 when the clubs met in Serie B last term, and lost on home soil earlier this season when Ange-Yoan Bonny scored the winner for the Gialloblu in November.

Venezia's recent revival - a run of just one defeat in five games - was halted by Inter last week, but they put up a fight in their 1-0 home defeat to the Scudetto holders.

Now five points adrift of safety, the Lagunari have a lot of work to do if they are to achieve their goal of staying in the top flight.

A first away win of the season would help, as Eusebio Di Francesco's men have picked up the fewest points away from home - just three in 10 games so far.

Going back to the club's last brief stint in Serie A, Venezia are winless on the road in 17 outings, so the odds are stacked against them emerging victorious on Sunday.

Recent Performance

Parma Serie A form:LLLWDL

Venezia Serie A form:DDWLDL

Team News

While Parma have agreed a deal to allow Woyo Coulibaly to join Leicester City midway through the season, and young goalkeeper Zion Suzuki is reportedly a target for bigger clubs, they have also made a number of new signings.

Alessandro Vogliacco has arrived from Genoa to shore up a leaky defence alongside Molde's Mathias Lovik, a left-back for Norway under-21s.

Vogliacco could start on Sunday as Botond Balogh recently picked up a calf injury, leaving fellow defenders Yordan Osorio and Alessandro Circati on the sidelines. Adrian Bernabe, Mateusz Kowalski and Gabriel Charpentier are also out.

Ange-Yoan Bonny remains the hosts' top scorer, although the last of his four league goals came in the reverse fixture against Venezia in November. Meanwhile, the visitors' last seven Serie A strikes have come from seven different players.

Michael Svoboda, Richie Sagrado, Alfred Duncan and Domen Crnigoj are all injured, while centre-back Giorgio Altare is struggling to overcome a flexor problem.

Inter goalkeeper Filip Stankovic, who featured against his parent club last week, will start between the sticks: since making his Serie A debut at the start of the season, he has made the most saves in the Italian top flight with 51 in 13 appearances.

Possible starting lineup

Parma possible starting lineup:

Suzuki; Del Prato, Valenti, Vogliacco, Valeri; Keita, Sohm; Man, Hernani, Mihaila; Bonny

Venezia possible starting lineup:

Stankovic; Idzes, Sverko, Haps; Ellertsson, Conde, Nicolussi Caviglia, Busio, Carboni; Oristanio; Pohjanpalo