Parma vs. Napoli 9/20/20 Serie A Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Parma is welcoming Napoli to Ennio Tardini in round 1 in the Italian Serie A.

Parma has had a good last season where they ended in 11th place with 49 points, 56 scored goals, and 57 conceded goals. In the preseason, Parma has played 3 games, and they have 2 wins and 1 loss, alongside 8 scored goals and only 2 conceded goals. Parma is starting this season with a new head coach, Fabio Liverani, former Lecce coach who did a solid job with that team. Parma has signed a few good players like Inglese, Karamoh, Pezzella, and Kurtic, while the only notable player that left the team is Machin. There are no injuries in Parma at this time, but Jasmin Kurtic is suspended because of the yellow cards, and he should be back next week. Parma is doing well, and they are constantly improving, and on top of all that, Parma has the new owners who are ready to invest more money into the development of this season. Parma has the quality to stay outside the relegation zone without any problems, but I don’t see them getting close to the Europa League this season.

Napoli didn’t have good last season, and they ended up in 7th place with 62 points, but the good news for Napoli is that they will be playing in the Europa League because they have won Coppa Italia. With 61 scored goals, Napoli was solid offensively last season, but their defense was terrible with 50 conceded goals. The preseason was solid for Napoli with 2 wins, 8 scored goals, and 0 conceded goals. Malcuit and Ciciretti are both still questionable for this match, but they could be ready. The biggest signing for Napoli in the offseason was Victor Osimhen who arrive from Lille for 77 million Euros. Osimhen is a young striker who had 13 goals and 5 assists in 27 games in Ligue 1 last season, and he will do well in Serie A. the biggest departure from Napoli is Allan who left for Everton, Verdi who left for Torino, Inglese for Parma, and Rog was sold to Cagliari after spending a season on loan there. Gattuso has remained the head coach in Napoli, and it’s good that he stayed because Napoli was playing well after he took over. Napoli certainly has the quality to end up in the top 4 in Serie A, but the question is if they have enough depth to compete in the Europa League and in Serie A. there are still rumors that Koulibaly will leave Napoli to go to Manchester City, while Sokratis should arrive from Napoli.

Napoli has lost their last 3 games on the road. Napoli is the better team here, there is no question about that, but Parma is a good team as well, and they have had success against Napoli in the past. Usually, when these two teams meet, we see goals, and I expect the same here.