Both struggling in the bottom half of the Serie A standings, Roma and Parma will hope for an early Christmas gift when they meet at Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.
The Giallorossi's dismal run of form continued last week - before strolling through a midweek Coppa Italia contest - so their promoted visitors sit just one point behind.
Match preview
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After suffering another painful setback last Sunday, crisis club Roma safely avoided a cup upset three days later, when they welcomed Sampdoria to the Olimpico for a last-16 tie.
With just four league wins on the board following their dismal 2-0 defeat at Como, the capital club settled any nerves with an early double from Artem Dovbyk, before Tommaso Baldanzi and Eldor Shomurodov put the seal on a 4-1 win.
That set up a quarter-final clash with AC Milan in February, and Roma are still hopeful of progressing in the Europa League, but their Serie A form remains a major concern for interim coach Claudio Ranieri.
The Giallorossi have lost seven of their last nine league matches - as many defeats as throughout the previous 29 - and they are situated just outside the relegation zone with this season's midpoint fast approaching.
Losing half of their 16 Serie A fixtures represents the club's worst tally at this stage of a campaign since 1973, so after seeing off Samp on Wednesday, Ranieri will be desperate to defeat another of his former clubs this weekend.
As Roma have not lost a league game at home to Parma since 1997 - recording 16 wins and four draws during that period - losing again would be simply unthinkable for an increasingly frustrated fanbase.
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In all, Parma have been beaten in 61% of their Serie A games against Roma to date, although the clubs' most recent meeting in March 2021 actually went their way at Stadio Tardini.
On this occasion, the Emilian outfit will head for Italy's capital city following back-to-back defeats, aiming to avoid suffering three straight losses for the first time since returning to Calcio's top tier.
The survival hopes of Fabio Pecchia's side took a heavy blow last time out, as they were beaten 3-2 at home by fellow strugglers Hellas Verona, despite Simon Sohm bagging a brace.
As a result, the Serie B champions' streak of top-flight home games without a clean sheet was extended, with Verona exploiting one of the leakiest defences in the division.
Parma have faced the most shots this season, while only two teams have conceded more goals, so even goal-shy Roma - who have scored five fewer than the Gialloblu so far - may fancy their chances of finding the net on Sunday.
Team News
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After Claudio Ranieri rotated his squad for Roma's Coppa Italia win over Sampdoria, regular starters such as Mile Svilar and Manu Kone should return to the lineup this weekend.
The latter is back in action after missing out in midweek due to muscular fatigue, but Bryan Cristante is still sidelined.
Despite being an irregular presence in the first XI, Stephan El Shaarawy has played a part in the most Serie A goals for Roma this term (five), and he will vie with Alexis Saelemaekers, Lorenzo Pellegrini and several others to start in support of lone striker Artem Dovbyk.
Meanwhile, Parma must head south without several players, as long-term absentees Alessandro Circati, Mateusz Kowalski and Gabriel Charpentier are joined by Nahuel Estevez, Yordan Osorio and Adrian Bernabe in the treatment room.
Set to start up front, Ange-Yoan Bonny will aim to end a four-game goalless streak - the French forward's longest since arriving in Serie A this season.
Roma possible starting lineup:
Svilar; Mancini, Hummels, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Paredes, Kone, Angelino; Dybala, El Shaarawy; Dovbyk
Parma possible starting lineup:
Suzuki; Coulibaly, Balogh, Del Prato, Valeri; Keita, Sohm; Man, Hernani, Cancellieri; Bonny
We say: Roma 2-1 Parma
Roma's home form is totally hit-and-miss, having both won and lost four times at the Olimpico in Serie A, but they surely cannot slip up against Parma.
The visitors have produced just one win from seven road trips since earning promotion, and their soft centre is set to cost them again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
