Napoli vs Parma

Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is the venue as Napoli and Parma go head-to-head in their first Serie A showdown since January 2021.

Not even the most pessimistic Napoli fans couldn’t have imagined back-to-back scoring blanks at the start of Antonio Conte’s tenure. But after beating second-tier Modena on penalties in the Coppa Italia (0-0) and shockingly losing 3-0 at Hellas Verona in Serie A, ‘I Partenopei’ got off the mark last weekend with a scintillating 3-0 home victory against Bologna. With the arrival of Romelu Lukaku, Napoli head into proceedings in high spirits, seeking two consecutive league wins on home turf for only the second time in 2024. Confidence comes from ending an eight-game winless league run last time out (D5, L3) and their most recent meetings against Parma. Indeed, Napoli won both Serie A encounters between the two teams in 2020/21 via an identical 2-0 scoreline.

However, Napoli would be silly to underestimate newly-promoted Parma, who stunned AC Milan 2-1 last weekend, improving on a spirited 1-1 home draw against Fiorentina on the opening day. Back to Serie A after a three-year absence, Fabio Pecchia’s men are keen to avoid a quick return to the second tier. Yet, they must find their feet on the road after drawing their last four away matches in all competitions. That’s an ominous run, which doesn’t bode well for Parma’s hopes of halting a disastrous 14-game winless streak in Serie A away games (D5, L9). Neither does the fact the Crusaders lost three of their last four league visits to the Maradona Stadium by 2+ goals ‘ to nil’ (W1).