After a first-round exit to Lecce last season, Parma have already improved their Coppa Italia performance and they will be looking to go even further as they host Bari at Stadio Ennio Tardini on Wednesday evening.
Their opponents did not compete in the competition in the last campaign and will be hoping to make a third-round appearance for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when they made it a step further to the fourth before being knocked out by Sassuolo.
Match preview
Parma will be hoping to carry their form from the league into the cup, having extended their unbeaten run to four games with a 2-0 win against Reggina on Saturday, both goals coming from defenders.
Fabio Pecchia's first Serie B match in charge of Parma was a 2-2 draw against Bari at the beginning of the season, when his side took a third-minute lead before going 2-1 behind and then levelling the scores again - all before half time.
Before that game was the first round of the Coppa Italia and Parma faced a difficult away tie, coming up against Serie A side Salernitana. A 2-0 victory secured their place in the second round with Valentin Mihaila on the scoresheet.
Mihaila has seen his bright start to the season derailed by a thigh injury which has kept him out since September, and Parma are being cautious with his return despite him racking up three goals and three assists in six games before his layoff.
The three-time Coppa Italia winners will be hoping to get through to the next round and potentially go on a good run in this competition, with their best performance in the cup recently being a quarter-final appearance in 2014-15.
Bari have made a very impressive start to the season, with their first loss in this campaign only coming on Saturday against Ascoli, which leaves them still sitting fourth in the table, just one point off the top.
What makes their achievements of this season so far even greater is that they were only just promoted from the third tier, after winning the league in 2021-22.
Bari have already played two rounds in the Coppa Italia, the preliminary round and the first round; after a comfortable 3-0 victory against Serie C side Padova, they faced Serie A side Hellas Verona, which on paper looked like a tricky fixture as they finished in the top half of the first division last season. However, Bari won 4-1, with a hat-trick scored by Walid Cheddira.
Cheddira has been a standout player for Bari this season, not only scoring five times in their two Coppa Italia games but also scoring eight times in nine games in the league, whilst also creating four goals.
Michele Mignani will be hoping that his side can bounce back from their first defeat of the season and continue the impressive form they have been showing throughout the campaign so far.
Team News
Goalkeeper Leandro Chichizola played the full game against Pisa despite suffering a muscle injury, and he was not in the squad for the game against Reggina on the weekend and may not be rushed back into this game, with Edoardo Corvi most likely to keep his place in goal.
Mihaila is still on his way back to full fitness and this fixture will probably still be too soon for him, with other attacking options such as Dennis Man also missing the last game through injury and unlikely to return for this fixture either.
This cup fixture may provide fringe players with opportunities to establish themselves within the starting 11, especially as the number of players on the injury list seems to be getting longer.
For Bari, midfielder Raffaele Maiello missed the weekend fixture against Ascoli and has been ruled out of this fixture too, with an injury to his right thigh. Leonardo Benedetti replaced him in the league game and will most likely do so again.
The rest of the side remained unchanged from their last league fixture and after suffering their first defeat in the league, this game could be used as an opportunity for them to redeem themselves or as a chance to rotate some players such as bringing in Eddie Salcedo, who came on at the start of the second half against Ascoli.
Parma possible starting lineup:
Corvi; Oosterwolde, Valenti, Osorio, Del Prato; Vazquez, Estevez, Coulibaly, Benedyczak, Sohm; Inglese
Bari possible starting lineup:
Caprile; Ricci, Vicari, Di Cesare, Pucino; Folorunsho, Maita, Benedetti, Salcedo; Antenucci, Cheddira
We say: Parma 1-2 Bari
Like the first league game of the season, we would expect this to be a close game, with fine margins between the two sides. However, with the injuries on the Parma side, the slight edge could go to Bari.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
