Parma continued their sensational run with a win against Fiorentina in a five-goal thriller in the last round, and will now play host to Napoli at the Stadio Ennio Tardini.
The Ducali will miss the services of Daniele Galloppa, McDonald Mariga and Alberto Paloschi. The visitors will be without Leandro Rinaudo, who is serving a suspension.
The Azzurri will be comforted by the fact that they are yet to lose a game under the guidance of Walter Mazzarri.
It is now 11 games since Lazio registered a win in the Serie A, which in turn has left Davide Ballardini clinging on for dear life at the helm of the capital club.
A loss against a consistently inconsistent Bologna side will likely be the last straw for the Aquile boss, who has taken a fair amount of criticism for the way his side have been performing.
The Rossoblu are all too familiar with fighting for survival in the top flight, and would welcome to opportunity to take on their opponents with a realistic chance of scraping the three points that will be on offer.
Fiorentina would have liked to face Inter whilst on a better run of form, as three losses in their past five league games do not count for much. But a win against Lyon in the Champions league, thereby resulting in European heavyweights Liverpool bowing out of the competition would have gone some way to restore the confidence in the Viola.
Meanwhile, the Nerazzurri succumbed to a disappointing loss against Barcelona in a game where they were outplayed in all departments. Many critics believe that an exit from the European competition will lead to Jose Mourinho being fired, even though he appears to have the backing of Massimo Moratti.
A loss here could potentially see Juventus come within touching distance of the pole position in the Serie A, as the gap could be cut down to two points, thereby resulting in more questions being asked about the ‘Special One’.
