Finishing off their 2024 schedule with a battle at the bottom, Serie A survival rivals Parma and Monza will meet at Stadio Tardini on Saturday.
While the hosts are keeping faith with their promotion-winning boss despite another defeat last week, the visitors pulled the plug on their high-profile head coach with a record of one win from 17.
Match preview
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Sitting just a point behind their hosts before kick off, Parma may have expected to upset an ailing Roma side at Stadio Olimpico last time out, but going two goals down within 13 minutes effectively killed any such hopes.
The Gialloblu then shipped three more after the break, and a chastening 5-0 loss ultimately left them 15th, only one point clear of the drop zone amid a congested bottom half of the table.
Fabio Pecchia's young squad have now suffered three straight losses for the first time since returning to Italy's top tier as Serie B champions, with their defensive deficiencies again being exposed.
Together with Saturday's opponents, Parma are one of only two teams yet to keep a single clean sheet at home this season, so they will be keen to end that trend as the curtain falls on a largely successful 2024.
Having won their final Serie A match of a calendar year just once in the last 14 attempts, history is not exactly on their side - though they are unbeaten in six second-tier games against Monza.
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The first-ever fixture between Parma and Monza in Serie A will be overseen by a fresh face in the away dugout, as Alessandro Nesta was sacked just before Christmas, in the aftermath of a 2-1 home defeat to Juventus.
While Pecchia led his club back to the promised land and therefore has plenty of credit in the bank, Nesta failed to make an impact after taking over in the summer, following back-to-back mid-table finishes for the Biancorossi under Raffaele Palladino.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Monza hierarchy have plumped for an inexperienced successor to the Italy legend, as former Hellas Verona assistant and interim manager Salvatore Bocchetti has stepped into the hotseat with his new team stranded inside the drop zone.
Winless since October and without a single home victory in the league this season, the Brianzoli are rock bottom, five points adrift of safety and fast approaching the halfway stage.
However, they have actually picked up the highest percentage of points on the road so far - 70% have been collected away from home - and Bocchetti has been presented with a relatively winnable first fixture.
Team News
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Deepening their already significant defensive woes, Parma could be without half of their first-choice back four on Saturday, as Enrico Del Prato (thigh) and Emanuele Valeri (foot) were both forced off by injury during last week's loss in Rome - though the latter still has a chance of being passed fit.
Fabio Pecchia is also missing Adrian Bernabe, Mateusz Kowalski, Gabriel Charpentier, Alessandro Circati, Lautaro Valenti and Yordan Osorio, while Nahuel Estevez remains a doubt.
In the final third, Ange-Yoan Bonny should lead the line with support from Romania winger Dennis Man. This year, Man has been directly involved in the most Parma goals across all competitions (12) and has also made the most starts (32).
Meanwhile, Monza may line up a little differently under Salvatore Bocchetti, but the ex-Spartak Moscow defender did employ a three-man defence during his brief spell as Verona boss.
He will be without several players, including captain Matteo Pessina, as Milan Djuric again joins Mattia Valoti, Samuele Vignato, Luca Caldirola and Roberto Gagliardini on the sidelines.
Daniel Maldini is back from a ban, though, and the Italy forward could join Dany Mota up front. After scoring four goals in his first six league appearances this season, Mota has added none in his last nine, so Mirko Maric may be handed a rare chance instead.
Parma possible starting lineup:
Suzuki; Coulibaly, Valenti, Balogh, Valeri; Keita, Sohm; Man, Hernani, Almqvist; Bonny
Monza possible starting lineup:
Turati; Izzo, Mari, Carboni; Birindelli, Bianco, Bondo, Kyriakopoulos; Caprari, Maldini; Mota
We say: Parma 2-1 Monza
Monza's need for maximum points is greater, but Parma have the more potent attack and can surely outscore one of the few teams below them in the standings.
A 'new-manager bounce' cannot be ruled out - particularly as Parma often leave themselves wide open - but the visitors might head back home empty-handed.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
