Next Sunday, 1st of February 2015, the former European champions, AC Milan, will measure forces with a freefalling Parma at the emblematic San Siro for round 21 of the Italian Serie A, in a match that both teams need to win in order to break the negative moment they have been recently experiencing.

After a promising season start, AC Milan have entered into a spiral of inconsistency and have already rolled down to the 11th place of the Serie A table. The Rossoneri lost their recent two home matches, one against the modest Atalanta two weeks ago and another one against Lazio last Tuesday. In between those home defeats, there is another setback against Le Aquile at Stadio Olimpico in Rome last weekend.

Things are definitely not easy for AC Milan’s debutant manager, Filippo Inzaghi, who is struggling to put the team back on track after the recent negative streak of results. The last three defeats have certainly opened serious breaches on the Rossoneri’s foundations and the supporters have also started to express their discontent toward the team.

Next Sunday’s fixture against an unrecognizable Parma presents an excellent opportunity for AC Milan to return to wins at San Siro, but their need to win might prove to be a heavy burden for the players, who are recently having to deal with some motivational issues.

For that particular clash, the young Italian head coach will not be able to rely on El Shaarawi, Zapata, Bonera and Bonaventura, all sidelined because of injury, and with Mexes, who is currently suspended after being sent off against Lazio due to unsportsmanlike conduct.

As for Parma, it is impossible to draw any type of comparisons between this season’s team with the one that caused quite a stir during the last campaign. The team’s manager and former Italian international, Roberto Donadoni, is doing everything within his reach in order to restore Parma’s dignity, but so far he has been failing to do so.

The Winter transfer window’s new arrivals, the Portuguese international and experienced winger Silvestre Varela, who is on loan from FC Porto, and the Uruguayan winger Cristian “Cebolla” Rodriguez, who arrived on loan from Atlético Madrid, will certainly offer some quality options to the Italian manager and they will surely be some important assets to a team that quickly needs to be fixed.

Despite their recent poor streak, AC Milan are favourites for the next Sunday’s match, although, it is also possible that Parma try to take advantage of the home side’s less impressive moment to clinch the three points and try to escape the last place of the Serie A table.

AC Milan

Stats: W-1 L-3 D-1

Recent Form - LLLWD

Parma

Stats: W-1 L-4 D-0

Recent Form - LLLWL

Possible Line-ups

AC Milan (4-3-3) - Diego Lopez - Abate - Alex - Armero - De Sciglio - Andrea Poli - Van Ginkel - Montolivo - Suso - Cerci - Jeremy Menez

Parma (4-3-3) - Mirante - Cassani - Paletta - Costa - Gobbi - Lodi - Mauri - Nocerino - Rodriguez - Varela - Palladino

Prediction

AC Milan 2 Parma 1