Parma, 19 September 2020 – Parma will be hosting Napoli on the first matchday of the new Serie A Tim season. We take a look at the key statistics and our previous encounters in our first Match Pack of the season.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
The only time Parma and Napoli have faced one another at 12:30 goes back to March 2012, when the Partenopei came out with a 2-1 victory. Cavani opened the scoring, before Zaccardo levelled the scoring for the Crociati. However, the Crociati were unable to hold out for a point, with Lavezzi bagging a late winner. Napoli are unbeaten in their last eight matches in Serie A that kicked off at 12:30, with seven wins and one draw. Their last defeat in a game starting at this time goes back to April 2016, when they faced Udinese during Maurizio Sarri’s tenure. Parma have picked up just two points from their last four Serie A matches played at 12:30, having got nine in their previous three fixtures.
FIRST MATCHDAY
Among the sides who have played at least eight seasons in Serie A, Parma are the side that have drawn the highest proportion of their opening matches, with 58% of their season openers finishing level. Parma and Napoli have faced one another just once on the first matchday of the season, with the Crociati running out as 3-0 victors in 1996/97. Napoli have started the season with an away match in each of the last six Serie A seasons: the Partenopei are coming off three successive victories in their past three season openers, scoring twice in each of these matches.
PLAYER STATS
Andreas Cornelius scored twelve goals last season; the last Parma player to do better in a single Serie A season was Sebastian Giovinco in 2011/12 (15). The Danish forward will make his fiftieth appearance for the Crociati the next time he takes to the pitch. Luigi Sepe made his Serie A debut with Napoli in January 2009 against Fiorentina: after that match he played just once more in the league for the Partenopei in November 2017. Parma midfielder Alberto Grassi was also on the books at Napoli but he never made a Serie A appearance.
