Parma Seek to End Three-Game Slide in Parma Vs Sassuolo
Parma vs Sassuolo arrives with the home side trying to stop a three-match losing streak and the visitors still carrying a slim route into the top half. Parma host Sassuolo at the Stadio Ennio Tardini on Sunday afternoon in the final round of Serie A.
Parma sit 13th on 42 points, seven behind Sassuolo, and Carlos Cuesta wants the campaign finished on a positive note. Sassuolo are 11th on 49 points, so the margin keeps their finish alive while Parma are left trying to steady a season that has tightened late.
Cuesta and Grosso at Tardini
Cuesta’s side have won only two of their last 11 matches, and the recent slide has come with goals against piling up. Parma have conceded in three successive games, including a 3-2 home loss to AS Roma and a 1-0 defeat away to Como.
Fabio Grosso’s team arrive with a different problem. Sassuolo lost 3-2 at home to Lecce after conceding a 95th-minute winner, then followed with a 2-1 defeat at Torino, but they have scored in three consecutive matches and still have a path to improve their league position.
Parma’s home record
Parma’s numbers at the Stadio Ennio Tardini explain why the final-day meeting is tight rather than comfortable. They have four wins, six draws and eight defeats at home this season, and their attack has produced only 27 goals across the campaign.
Sassuolo’s away form is the complication for Parma. They have five wins, five draws and eight defeats on the road, yet they have not won in any of their last 12 away matches. That leaves both clubs entering the same ground with reasons to worry more about their own recent form than the table alone.
Absences on both benches
Parma will be without Benjamin Cremaschi, Filippo Rinaldi, Jacob Ondrejka, Adrian Bernabe, Nesta Elphege, Matija Frigan and Gaetano Oristanio. Cremaschi has a meniscus injury, Rinaldi and Ondrejka are out with physical discomfort, Bernabe and Elphege have muscle injuries, Frigan remains sidelined by a cruciate ligament injury and Oristanio has a knee problem.
Sassuolo are missing Daniel Boloca, Filippo Romagna, Sebastian Walukiewicz, Jay Idzes and Fali Cande. Boloca has a meniscus injury, Romagna is unavailable with physical discomfort, Walukiewicz is out with a leg injury, Idzes has a heel complaint and Cande is ruled out with a muscle injury.
The reverse fixture ended 1-1, and Parma have taken five of the 13 previous meetings in all competitions while Sassuolo have three. At the Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma have won three of the six home meetings and Sassuolo have won two, so the final-day margin between them is thin enough to fit the form on both sides.
