Under-fire Hellas Verona boss Paolo Zanetti takes his side to Parma in Serie A on Sunday, desperate for a win.
The Gialloblu start the weekend in the bottom three after another humbling defeat last weekend, while Parma are coming off the back of a very tough run of fixtures.
Match preview
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For Fabio Pecchia's Parma, he will be glad to have gotten through a treacherous run of games unscathed, with three points from their last three matches representing a success.
While the Serie B champions may have lost 3-1 to Atalanta and Inter Milan, they also beat Lazio by the same scoreline, which remains the Biancocelesti's only defeat across their last 12 games.
After winning just one of their first 11 Serie A games of the season, they have now won two of the last four, with a victory over Venezia coming just before their recent run of tough outings.
Those wins have moved them five places above the drop zone, and they now face the side who occupy the final spot in the bottom three.
With eight points already on the board from their games at the Ennio Tardini so far, another win here would see Parma equal the number of points they obtained during their nightmare relegation campaign in 2020-21, when they finished bottom, 17 points from safety.
Ending a run of 13 straight top-flight home games without a clean sheet would help in that regard though, as Parma have one of the leakiest defences in the division.
Their defensive woes are nothing in comparison to Verona though, who have by far and away the worst record in Serie A, having conceded 37 goals in their 15 games so far - nine more than any other team.
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With 11 defeats already this season, Zanetti is under huge pressure, and many thought he may have been sacked after the embarrassing 4-1 loss at home to Empoli last weekend - extending their losing streak to four matches, conceding 13 goals in that time.
All of the goals came in the opening 45 minutes, meaning that Verona have now conceded nine in the first half of their last three games, putting them out of the game before they have any chance to compete.
On the road, Verona are even worse, having now lost six in a row away from the Bentegodi - their worst run of results in almost seven years.
That illustrates why Zanetti is under so much pressure, and he will hope that his players can find similar form to Verona sides of the past in this fixture, considering they have won six of their last nine league encounters with Parma.
Team News
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Parma saw defender Botond Balogh forced off inside 10 minutes against Inter last week, so Yordan Osorio's potential return could be well timed, but he has not featured at club level since September, leaving Pecchia with an issue in defence.
Adrian Benedyczak missed out last week with illness and could return, but his namesake Adrian Bernabe is not set to make a comeback until the new year due to a hamstring injury.
Long-term injuries to Gabriel Charpentier and Mateusz Kowalski could see Anas Haj Mohamed given another chance from the start behind the striker after impressing in the win over Lazio, but dropping to the bench with Pecchia opting for a more cautious approach at Inter.
Verona will be able to welcome Diego Coppola back after a one-match ban due to an accumulation of yellow cards, so he could reclaim his place in defence this weekend.
Pawel Dawidowicz has been the first-choice centre-back at Verona for many years, but after being hooked at half-time in the 5-0 home defeat to Inter, subsequently being dropped at Cagliari, and conceding four first-half goals against Empoli last weekend on his return, the Polish international may lose his place again.
On the injury list, Martin Frese will not be seen until February at the earliest, but veteran midfielder Ondrej Duda is close to returning from a muscular issue.
Parma possible starting lineup:
Suzuki; Coulibaly, Del Prato, Leoni, Valeri; Sohm, Keita; Man, Haj Mohamed, Cancellieri; Mihaila
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Tchatchoua, Magnani, Coppola, Bradaric; Serdar, Belahyane, Harroui; Suslov, Tengstedt, Lazovic
We say: Parma 1-0 Hellas Verona
Parma will not feel too downtrodden about losing away to the champions last week, and after beating Lazio in their previous home match, they will feel confident of compounding the misery on Zanetti here.
Even a draw could help him get his side out of a current rut, but by losing last weekend, Verona became just the fifth Serie A side in a half-century to not draw any of their first 15 games of a season, and six straight defeats on the road offers nothing to encourage.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
