Next Sunday, 15th of February 2015, the title contenders AS Roma will entertain an unrecognizable Parma at the beautiful Stadio Olimpico in Rome for round 23 of the Italian Serie A. The Lupi are currently leaving a somewhat less inspired moment and are certainly willing to transform this match against the relegation doomed Parma into a search for extra motivation for the rest of the season.

Thirty-seven points are currently separating both teams at the Serie A league table and only a very bad afternoon on AS Roma's part would give Parma the opportunity to leave Stadio Olimpico with something positive in their bags. Roberto Donadoni’s boys are nothing but a shadow of what they were last season and, with plenty of matches still to play until the end of the current campaign, they virtually have already “granted” their ticket to Serie B next Summer.

AS Roma, on the other hand, continue with their role of title contenders, trailing right behind the Vecchia Signora at the top of the table, something very similar to what happened last season.

The new year hasn’t been particularly impressive for the Lupi, as they have only managed to win two of the six league matches they took part in. Roma’s lack of wins offered Juventus the possibility to escape at the top of the table and allowed Napoli to renew their hopes of still reaching the second place. Rudi Garcia is certainly worried with his team’s recent less impressive stint, but their last weekend’s win at Cagliari has surely served to rally the troops and continue their quest to reach Juventus at the top of the table.

For the upcoming match against Parma, Rudi Garcia will not be able to rely on the contribution of Juan Iturbe, Kevin Strootman, Ibarbo and Balzaretti, all currently sidelined due to injury.

As for Parma, it is very hard to express in words what is happening to this former Italian powerhouses. The financial problems and the lack of commitment from the majority of the unpaid players are some of the problems the former Italian international Roberto Donadoni has to deal with this season. The Crociati are at the bottom of the table with the miserable score of nine points in 22 matches and their upcoming clash at Stadio Olimpico is certainly not the most indicated one to start turning their bad luck around.

For that particular clash, Donadoni will probably not be able to rely on the services of Jonathan Biabiany and Cristobal Jorquera, both sidelined due to injury.

Roma

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - WLDDW

Parma

Stats: W-0 L-5 D-0

Recent Form - LLLLL

Possible Line-ups

Roma (4-3-3) - De Sanctis - Torosidis - Mbiwa - Astori - Holebas - De Rossi - Pjanic - Nainggolan - Verde - Totti - Ljajic

Parma (4-3-3) - Mirante - Cassani - Lucarelli - Santacroce - Feddal - Belfodil - Mariga - Nocerino - Rodriguez - Varela - Palladino

Prediction

Roma 3 Parma 1