Both beaten by a Milan giant last week, Serie A strugglers Parma and Lecce will meet for a Friday night survival scrap at Stadio Tardini.
While the hosts let victory slip at San Siro, leaving them level on points with their visitors, Lecce shipped four goals for the second straight week and plunged into the drop zone.
Match preview
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Despite leading 2-1 until the 91st minute, Parma somehow contrived to come away empty-handed from last week's meeting with AC Milan, conceding twice during stoppage time to lose 3-2.
Goals from Matteo Cancellieri and Enrico Del Prato put the plucky away side in charge at San Siro, but Milan pulled off an improbable comeback to claim maximum points.
As a result of their latest painful failure to retain an advantage, Fabio Pecchia's men have won only one of their last eight league matches, conceding 17 times in the process.
In fact, over the past eight matchdays, only Serie A's rock-bottom club Monza have accrued fewer points than Parma, while only Friday's opponents have leaked more goals.
Despite such a streak, the Gialloblu are still hovering just above the relegation places on goal difference, amid a tightly-packed bottom half of the table.
Two clashes with direct rivals - first Lecce, then Cagliari - could now prove crucial in their quest for survival, and Parma come into this week's contest with history firmly on their side.
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After an eventful 2-2 draw in this season's reverse fixture, Lecce have won just one of their last 23 top-flight matches against Parma - a 1-0 victory at the Tardini, way back in February 2011.
The Salentini came so close to a rare victory in September, when both teams were reduced to 10 men during the second half, but they failed to get over the finish line, conceding twice after the 90th minute.
While Parma endured a similar climax to their match last week, Lecce were simply swatted aside by the black-and-blue side of Italy's second city, as Serie A champions Inter Milan cruised to a 4-0 win at Stadio Via del Mare.
Therefore, Marco Giampaolo's men have lost their last two games while conceding eight times, and such defensive deficiencies are too often exposed on the road: the Giallorossi have shipped 11 goals during their last four away fixtures - only one fewer than throughout the previous 12.
Also the league's lowest scorers, with just 15 strikes from 22 matches, Lecce may seem bound for Serie B; yet victory on Friday would take them out of the drop zone at Parma's expense.
Team News
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Parma still have a stubbornly long absence list, as defensive trio Botond Balogh, Yordan Osorio and Alessandro Circati all join Adrian Bernabe, Mateusz Kowalski and Gabriel Charpentier on the sidelines. Furthermore, captain Enrico Del Prato must serve a suspension.
Chief creator Dennis Man - who has seven Serie A goal involvements this season - is also highly doubtful due to a thigh strain, so Pontus Almqvist could be offered a chance to replicate his goal in September's reverse fixture.
Ange-Yoan Bonny has returned to training and can compete with new signing Milan Djuric to start up front, while recently-acquired winger Jacob Ondrejka will hope to make his debut.
Meanwhile, Lecce will travel to Emilia-Romagna without Hamza Rafia, Medon Berisha, Kialonda Gaspar, Lameck Banda and Filip Marchwinski.
Set to seal a high-profile transfer to the Premier League, versatile winger Patrick Dorgu is unlikely to feature, so Antonino Gallo should return at left-back.
Montenegrin striker Nikola Krstovic - who scored when these clubs met at Via del Mare earlier this season - is the only Lecce player to net more than one away goal in Serie A so far.
Parma possible starting lineup:
Suzuki; Hainaut, Valenti, Vogliacco, Valeri; Sohm, Hernani; Almqvist, Cancellieri, Mihaila; Bonny
Lecce possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Guilbert, Baschirotto, Jean, Gallo; Coulibaly, Pierret, Helgason; Pierotti, Krstovic, Morente
We say: Parma 2-1 Lecce
Only one team has a worse away record than Lecce, and they are still struggling to score goals, so even a brittle Parma side should secure three points on Friday evening.
Without doubt, the Gialloblu have a greater cutting edge than their visitors, and they can use it to inch further away from danger.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
