On Sunday, January 10, 2021, the Stadio Ennio Tardini hosts Parma vs Lazio in Matchday 17 of the 2020/21 Serie A.
The Head Referee for this clash will be Luca Pairetto, the Assistant Referees will be Del Giovane and Rossi C., the Fourth Official will be Sozza, and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be Di Paolo with the assistance of Di Vuolo.
In the 52 times that the two clubs have played each other in Serie A, the Biancocelesti have won on 24 occasions, the Gialloblu have won on 14 occasions and there have been 14 draws. When playing at home, Parma has a record of 11W-7D-8L against Lazio.
As it stands in the top flight of Italian football, the Biancocelesti sit in eighth with a record of 7W-4D-5L (25 points) and the Gialloblu sit in eighteenth with a record of 2W-6D-8L (12 points).
Expected Starting Lineups
Parma (4-3-1-2)
- Sepe; Laurini, Busi, Bruno Alves, Pezzella; Hernani, Brugman, Kurtic; Brunetta; Inglese, Cornelius
Lazio (3-5-2)
- Reina; Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Radu; Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto, Marusic; Caicedo, Immobile
Prediction
This match takes place after Lazio won 2-1 versus Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico in Matchday 16 of the 2020/21 Serie A. It was a great result from the Biancocelesti, who put forth a good performance and capitalized on their chances. In the opening minutes, Fiorentina started strong as they controlled possession and lead the attack. However, the Viola didn’t take advantage of a good start and Lazio pounced on their first chance at the fifth minute. Lazio built their way forward from their backend as they were able to make some nice one-touch passing and runs. Francesco Acerbi received the pass down the left flank from Luis Alberto, who delivered a cross into the box. Manuel Lazzari won the challenge and headed the ball towards Felipe Caicedo who was inside the goal area. The Ecuadorian made no mistake striking the ball in mid-air and it went past Fiorentina goalkeeper, Bartlomiej Dragowski. In a tight affair between the two sides, Lazio extended their lead in the second half right at the 75th minute. Ciro Immobile scored his eleventh goal this season off a corner kick. It was an accurate delivery from Alberto and Dragowski had to make the save. It redirected towards Immobile and he made no mistake as he delivered a powerful shot past the goalkeeper. Right before injury time, Fiorentina were gifted a chance as Lazio goalkeeper, Thomas Strakosha passed the ball directly towards Jose Callejon out from the backend. It was a poor mistake and one which caused Wesley Hoedt to concede a foul in the box, as he took down Dusan Vlahovic. A weak call but one which resulted in Fiorentina scoring from the spot as Vlahovic converted for his side. This is as close as the Viola came as they lost 2-1 versus Lazio and dropped further down the standings. As for Lazio, they are keeping pace near the top of the table.
In Parma’s recent match against Atalanta, they were held to a 3-0 loss at the Gewiss Stadium. Within the first fifteen minutes of the match, La Dea scored off a beautiful long pass from Josip Ilicic. The midfielder was left uncontested and converted his pass as it went through several Parma players, who showed poor awareness and left a massive gap in the backend. Luis Muriel did a great job of receiving the pass, advancing down the left side of the goal area and getting his shot past Parma goalkeeper, Luigi Sepe. Atalanta extended their lead to 2-0 early in the second half. With Parma’s defense once again showing weakness, three defenders failed to pick up Duvan Zapata who was left unmarked outside the Parma box. He received the pass from Robin Gosens, went directly towards the net with ease and scored to extend their lead. The forward had just come on for Atalanta and immediately made an impact. Right at the hour mark, Atalanta ensured the win as Gosens scored off some brilliant once touch passing. It was a lacklustre performance from Parma’s defense and a match where Parma proved to be poor throughout the course versus Atalanta. The loss put an end to Parma manager, Fabio Liverani as he was fired and replaced by Roberto D’Aversa. He makes his return as manager of Parma after originally being replaced by Liverani back in the summer. A decision that has proved to be costly and hindered the Gialloblu’s season this year.
In recent times, Lazio have shown better form in Serie A as they have been able to pick up points in four of their past five matches. This season, the Biancocelesti have dropped points against Benevento, Udinese, Hellas Verona and Genoa and will look to avoid past instances versus Parma. They have struggled for consistency this season and this was due to poor defending and not being clinical with their chances. Currently sitting in eighth place and five points back of Juventus who are in fourth place and a game in hand versus Napoli, Lazio need to start winning games to keep pace. As for Parma, they aim to avoid dropping further down the table as they are occupying the final spot in the relegation zone with 12 points. The Gialloblu have struggled to find consistency in recent times as they have won twice this season and will hope to turn their season around under D’Aversa.
This should be an intriguing battle between both sides. One aims to return to the Champions League next season while the other looks to avoid relegation. The last time these two teams met at the Ennio Tardini, Lazio won 1-0 from a goal by Caicedo near half-time that ensured them the win. If Lazio are to pick up the three points, the Biancocelesti will need to be highly motivated, not let their guard down and be much better defensively against a Parma side who has shown to be inconsistent and show poor form this season.
Parma 0-2 Lazio
